SweetSpearGirl's Adventures
by EvilBill-AGQx
Summary: COMPLETED!" A spearazon's adventures through Hell difficulty. (NOTE: the rogue does not have the 3 to skills lightning hose; physical immunes are dealt with by running away; and some bits are missed cause I left it too long to write ;)
1. SweetSpearGirl 01 Jabbing In Hell

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 1 - Jabbing In Hell  
  
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Cast of Characters  
  
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- SweetSpearGirl, lvl 60 spearazon with Jab as main skill; using Lycander's Flank  
  
- Debi, NM Rogue merc, using Cliffkiller  
  
- Slvl 6 Valkyrie with very short life-span  
  
TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...  
  
Baal was slain, and far more easily than Diablo. Even the Valk had only gone down once. As SweetSpearGirl and her posse stepped out of Tyrael's portal back into the Rogue camp, she knew that this was the last time she would have to overcome the legions of hell across the lands of Sanctuary.  
  
Not that it would be plain sailing, as she soon discovered! Her large amounts of leech were not what they had been and it took a lot longer to kill anything; Corpsefire's gang in the Den of Evil did for her Rogue merc Debi (and hence, also did for 50k of the SpearGirl's gold!), and entering the Cold Plains they ran into *three* bosses. The first - Stone Ripper the Slayer - extra fast, fire enchanted, lightning enchanted - was bad enough, but during *that* fight, Soul Fester the Dark - teleportation, extra fast, fire enchanted - hove into view. Dispatching the vile foes, our heroes were stopped only a handful of steps further on, by Bone Heart - lightning enchanted, fire enchanted, stone skin, immune to physical, immune to lightning - and before that fight was done SweetSpearGirl had used up almost every one of her fat purples and recast the Valk more times than she could count! Bone Heart's drop was singularly unremarkable; a few healing potions and some fancy yellow knife. SweetSpearGirl swore to herself. It had *not* been worth all the rejuvs!  
  
The crew had noticed by now - well, SweetSpearGirl and Debi had noticed; the Valk was chasing after blades of grass and PI LEs that the others had wisely decided to ignore - that Chance Stones were dropping on a regular basis. Stockpiling them, our heroine began to realize her stash was running out of room! Although with three items of Tal Rasha's set in there, along with a bunch of other rings, ammys and runes, this was not altogether surprising...  
  
By comparison with the bosses in the Cold Plains, Blood Raven was easy-peasy japaneesy - she went down after just a few hits and dropped yet *another* chance stone - along with some fancy yellow dagger and a pile of gold. "Onward and upward!" SweetSpearGirl yelled; Debi rolled her eyes at her employer's enthusiasm and the Valk - stuck and vibrating against a stone wall near the Stony Field entrance - did nothing. As usual.  
  
In the Stony Field, the boss situation was little better. Bane Maggot - a boss Foul Crow who was extra fast, stone skin, immune to physical and sporting a holy shock aura - flittered in, deftly avoiding and shocking SweetSpearGirl and the Valk as they struggled to get rid of it. At the same time they were swarmed by goat boys, led by Foul Froth the Slasher - extra strong, mana burn, fire enchanted! SweetSpearGirl did *not* like mana burners; she had no mana leech and had already begun to notice its absence when battling the PIs. Muttering rudely, she grimly pressed home her attacks, taking out Foul Froth the Dumbass first, then going after Bane Maggot. Who led the intrepid trio straight into the grasp of Sharp Head The Hungry - "Slap Head the Hungry", Debi christened him - a cold enchanted, extra strong skeleton blessed with a conviction aura!! The nasty swirly green aura wrapped itself around SweetSpearGirl's feet and those of her faithful merc, while the Valk ignored her own green swirl and blindly plunged into the middle of Slap Head's pack. And died.  
  
At about this time, Bane Maggot bit the dust, and our zon found herself backpedalling towards the waypoint in order to reach Akara and replenish her all-but-vanished mana reserves. Life leech was not a problem, at least against non-PIs, but on the way back to the waypoint they ran through a camp of Fallen and had to stop to fend off fireballs and the mindless attacks of nasty little red goblins!  
  
This was when Rot Eater made her appearance. A corrupted rogue archer blessed with yet another Holy Shock aura, she also sported stone skin and multiple shot, and was thus PI...  
  
SweetSpearGirl had had enough. She downed one of her last fat purples, reconjoured her Personal Heavenly Companion - who didn't last long - smashed her way through Slap Head and his pack, and made a run for it...  
  
On returning through her town portal, she pointedly ignored Rot Eater and went straight for the Underground Passage. There were a few bosses down there including one PI, but with no especially nasty mods otherwise, they soon battled their way through. In the Dark Wood, SweetSpearGirl levelled to 61. Treewood Headfist wasn't a problem, despite the LE thorn beast lurking nearby, and after obtaining the Scrool of Inwossname the trio headed off back to the Stony Field.  
  
Of course, Rakanishu - the lively LE Carver guarding the Cairn Stones - was a PI...  
  
"Screw this," SweetSpearGirl muttered, tapping the stones in the correct order as her merc spitted Rak's minions full of arrows. Tristram! At last!  
  
Deckard Cain awaited them; Akara's ring was predictably nondescript, and with this, the spearmaiden and her bow-weilding companion decided not to resummon the Valk, and took a rest instead.  
  
Later on, they ventured into the Black Marsh just far enough to find the Tower and the waypoint, and along the way discovered a Thundergod's Vigour and an Extra Strong MSLE... but that's another story. 


	2. SweetSpearGirl 02 Desert Adventure

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 2 - Desert Adventure  
  
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TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM.  
  
Cast of Characters  
  
------------------  
  
SweetSpearGirl - lvl 64 Spearazon  
  
Debi Euyfara - lvl 64 Rogue merc  
  
Chaos Shifter the Flayer - boss Sand Maggot  
  
"Chaos Shifter the Flayer," SweetSpearGirl muttered as the boss Sand Maggot in question spewed poison at her merc and its eggs - and those of its minions - began hatching. The last two boss maggots had both been lightning enchanted (not to mention the holy shock enchanted boss vulture that had accompanied one of the maggots...), so she waded in, Debi Euyfara in tow, to take out this one hoping that the dreaded LE wouldn't roll again.  
  
Then the lightning started. Great white *clumps* of it rolling across the sand! Euyfara screamed. "Boss! For the Great Eye's sake stop hitting it!!"  
  
It had to be, didnt it! That most terrifying of creatures, whispered about in hushed tones wherever adventurers gathered, but rarely seen - or at least, rarely survived! A multishot lightning-enchanted - the dreaded MSLE!  
  
SweetSpearGirl pulled back, dragging her Rogue with her; the poor merc was not in the best of shape. A huge swarm of maggot hatchlings followed, but since those spat neither poison nor lightning, they were much more easily dealt with. The amazon looked back at Chaos Shifter. She'd hardly made a dent in its turquoise carapace and she had a sinking feeling that it was also physical immune... she didn't like those either. A physical immune boss spear cat, Mold Crawler (who had also been immune to cold!), that they had encountered in the Dry Hills, had taken her two full mana balls and a long time, to despatch. That beastie had only had extra strong and magic resistant alongside its stone skin ability and somehow she doubted her ability to survive long while attacking an MSLE that would take even longer to kill! Euyfara definitely wouldn't survibe it... the Valk had gone down in one hit and the Rogue was looking a little green around the gills from her latest encounter with poisonous maggot spit.  
  
They pulled back to where they could safely fight the young and a stray minion or two, without accidentally landing a hit on Chaos Shifter herself. Black Raptors decided to join the fun, and Euyfara found herself having to fire arrows left right and centre. Not for the last time, she longed for some +to skills gear...  
  
Eventually the intrepid duo were able to pull back to a clear spot and take a breather. SweetSpearGirl had an inkling that the local waypoint was nearby, and she was proved right when Euyfara almost tripped over it! Activating it, they swiftly twinkled back to Lut Gholein for healing and repairs, offloading what meagre spoils they had accumulated since encountering Chaos Shifter the O-So-Nasty.  
  
Twilight in Lut Gholein was a magical experience; the Jewel City of the Desert giving way from daytime to evening. SweetSpearGirl stretched out the two bedrolls the pair had become accustomed to using, and almost before she'd laid down her Lycander's Flank and stripped off her heavy armour, she was asleep, while Euyfara wrote about the day's events in her diary. Soon, the Rogue too was breathing gently, her well-used Kuko Shakaku beside her. The next day, they would see how many more LE maggot bosses the Far Oasis still held... 


	3. SweetSpearGirl 03 Maggot Problems

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 3 - Maggot Problems  
  
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Cast of Chracters  
  
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SweetSpearGirl - lvl 64 Spearazon using Lycander's Flank  
  
Debi Euyfara - lvl 60-something Rogue merc using Kuko Shakaku  
  
Valkyrie - Your Personal Heavenly Companion, summoned and re-summoned time and again  
  
Coldworm the Burrower - Sand Maggot Queen  
  
Flesh Bang the Axe - boss Maggot  
  
TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...  
  
SweetSpearGirl stepped off the waypoint into the Far Oasis; she could spot the entrance into the sand maggots' tunnels not far off. Following her dutifully, her faithful Rogue companion Debi Euyfara. It had been a long adventure since she'd first agreed to accompany a then level 6 spearazon on her quest to rid the world of Andariel...  
  
Pausing only to eliminate Death Crow (boss black raptor; cursed, cold enchanted, extra strong - which SweetSpearGirl was a little worried about since her cold resist was low!) and Gut Hack the Grim (boss Itchies; cursed, extra fast, fire enchanted), the intrepid duo - with the ever-present Valk dawdling behind - levered themselves down into the sandy tunnel. Slime dripped from its walls and puddles of goo littered the floor (although these often contained gold and potions so it was worthwhile rummaging them).  
  
"I hate these things!" SweetSpearGirl yelled as she found her first boss pack of Scarabs. This was led by Grey Bang the Slasher (extra strong, teleportation, extra fast); fortunately, the close confines of the tunnels meant that most of the lightning dissipated harmlessly into the walls rather than frying the adventurers. Euyfara stood back out of harm's way, although her lightning-blasting arrows had little effect on the lightning-enchanted creatures.  
  
After wasting the scarabs, taking out innumerable swarms of stinging Black Locusts and working their way through the occasional pack of Sand Maggot champions and Rock Worms (yuck... SweetSpearGirl hates these creatures, she has a real phobia of creepy-crawlies...), they discovered a large chamber filled with chests and urns. "How on earth did they get down here?" Euyfara mused. "It's not like the maggots brought them down with them..."  
  
SweetSpearGirl kicked at an urn or two and heard the *crash* of heavy armour hitting the floor. She scanned the floor, seeing through a few piles of potions the shimmer of a golden aura. With some effort, she pulled the thing up.  
  
It was an Ornate Plate. She was so surprised, she almost dropped it on her foot! Swiftly, she bestowed it in her Horadric Cube, which in addition to storing a great deal of loot, had the added bonus of rendering it all but weightless. A gold Ornate Plate, from a random urn in the labyrinthine tunnels of insects and maggots... this surely made up for the slime and the creepy-crawlies!  
  
On they went, smashing their way through more maggots and Black Locusts. Sliding down a dark shaft, finding themselves on a second level of tunnels and chambers, they encountered Rust Vex the Hungry (boss death beetle; spectral hit, teleportation, sporting a Holy Freeze aura). Neither SweetSpearGirl nor Euyfara were fond of the Holy Freeze effect; fortunately Rust Vex wasn't too great a challenge once his minions and the interfering Black Locust pack were dispensed with. And he dropped another golden treasure that SweetSpearGirl thought was worth the trip!  
  
"Skystrike", she read as the identifying scroll worked its magic. "Adds 1 to Amazon skill levels; adds 1-250 lightning damage; enhanced damage of 199%; increases attack speed by 30%..." The list went on for a further three properties. "Sweet", she said, stowing it in her cube. She looked at Euyfara. "Good backup bow for you in case we run into any fire immunes, huh?"  
  
Euyfara muttered something about "would've been bloody useful against the Countess..." They both still remembered *that* encounter; the MSLEBs had been bad enough but at least those could be avoided! The Countess herself had been both physical and fire immune and had taken an eternity - and more Valks than either SweetSpearGirl or Euyfara could count - to go down...  
  
Anyway. Onward and downward! The pair would have preferred *upward*, but Cain had insisted that the Horadric Shaft - "yeah, we keep getting Horadric Shafted by these quests and their 'rewards'!" Euyfara commented - lay in the deepest parts of the Maggot Lair where it had been placed by the Horadrim long ago.  
  
The third level of the maggots' lair was much of a muchness with level 2, with the exception that no golden items dropped from anything they slew. A death beetle and Sand Maggot were the only bosses they encountered and as they approached the Queen's Chamber where the staff lay, SweetSpearGirl grew more optimistic about the success of this quest.  
  
Then she saw what lay beyond. Coldworm the Burrower was cold enchanted and magic resistant - as well as two properties which were completely wasted on a beast which never moved about or attacked - Extra Fast and Extra Strong! She almost laughed, but the fact that the three of them had been poisoned immediately on entering the chamber, and the multitude of Sand Maggots crawling around, attacking and spawning young, stopped the laugh before it reached her lips.  
  
Coldworm herself was not so hard to kill. However, by the time she went down, the maggot young were so thickly clustered around SweetSpearGirl and Euyfara - massive numbers of them - that it was impossible to carve a way through to deal with the adults. Coldworm's death blast had both chilled them and exposed them to massive amounts of lethal poisons, and try as they might, they could not reach either the adult maggots or the glowing chest where the Staff lay.  
  
Or their town portal. Rejuvenation potion followed rejuvenation potion, replenishing the duo's rapidly depleting health, until finally there were no more fat purples left. The maggot young were so numerous that they had SweetSpearGirl in a permanent attack lock; she couldn't even recast a Valk to distract them and in any case Valks just didn't last more than a few seconds. Euyfara fell with a cry that pierced SweetSpearGirl to her heart. Then, she herself fell to the attacks of the innumerable maggots...  
  
Awaking in Lut Gholein, SweetSpearGirl went to Greiz to restore Euyfara to health, and began pulling out her spare gear from her stash. She bought some arrows and equipped Skystrike, but all to no avail, for her body was surrounded and overrun by hundreds of maggot young and normal arrows just did not do any damage to the adults. Their only choice was to run...  
  
In the end, she had to sleep, and wait for the incomprehensible power that regenerated the monsters, to return her lost items to her. Re-donning her gear, re-stashing Skystrike and once again wielding Lycander's Flank, she headed for the waypoint.  
  
Today was obviously going to be One Of Those Days, since very quickly she was met by a Holy Shock boss beetle and then an Extra Fast one. What was a giorl to do? She ran straight for the entrance to the maggot tunnels with Euyfara in tow, but when round the first corner she met Flesh Bang the Axe - a cold-enchanted, teleportation-enhanced Rock Worm who favoured a Conviction aura - it was all too much. The creature nearly killed her; she only just managed to down a fat purple and then portal out.  
  
As she remarked to Euyfara later, as they drowned their troubles in ale and food at Atma's establishment and eyed up some of the local singles, "I'm not trying that again today. Coldworm will have to wait a while for my vengeance." 


	4. SweetSpearGirl 04 Maggot Triumph

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 4 - Maggot Triumph  
  
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Cast of Characters  
  
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SweetSpearGirl - lvl 64 Spearazon  
  
Debi Euyfara - lvl 64 Rogue merc  
  
The Ubiquitous Valk  
  
Various Maggot and Beetle bosses  
  
TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...  
  
The sun rose over the earth, as a new day dawned. SweetSpearGirl slowly drank her morning coffee, pondering over the problems that had driven her from the maggot lair the day before. The Horadric Shaft (she could think of some very off-colour jokes about that...) seemed beyond her reach.  
  
But quitting was not in her nature. Pulling on her heavy armour, dropping a fresh set of fat purple potions into her belt slots, reconjuring her glowing Valk and waking Euyfara from her beauty sleep, she finished her coffee and, feeling invigorated, twinkled through the waypoint.  
  
In the Far Oasis, trouble awaited. Plague Maw - a boss vulture who not only specialized in cold enchantment and teleportation, but was also physical immune (SweetSpearGirl hated stone skin beasties!!) took out three valks before our heroes wisely decided to skip the bugger for now, and charged straight on to the maggot lair entrance. Sliding down into the dank tunnel, SweetSpearGirl consulted a map of the tunnels she'd drawn up the day before. "This way," she said, heading directly for the lower levels...  
  
Of course, it couldn't possibly be that easy. Grief Sludge - a death beetle who was lightning-enchanted (like he needed that!), cold enchanted and on top of that, capable of dealing a spectral hit; barred their way on one side. On the other - blocking the tunnel they needed to go down - was Haze Crawler, a Rock Worm, whose minions were spawning young at a frightening rate. Haze Crawler was physical immune, so SweetSpearGirl concentrated her attack on Grief Sludge and friends until all the lightning-spewing beetles were gone. Clearing a path through the young rock worms to reach the adults took quite some time! Gouts of flame suddenly appeared over the trio's heads, and SweetSpearGirl realized that the boss worm was Cursed. She tried to recast the Valk but couldn't; her mana had also been burned away! Fortunately there were still enough minions, eggs and young around to leech it back, but she decided not to stick around and take out the boss. She headed straight on.  
  
Except for some Black Locusts and a few lone maggots, level 2 was uneventful. Onward... and downward. This was the test. SweetSpearGirl and Euyfara stopped in the first chamber of level 3 to discuss strategy. "Take out some of the maggots and eggs around the queen before you go for her," Euyfara suggested. The Valk contributed nothing; choosing that moment to take interest in a stalagmite reaching up from the cavern's floor. SweetSpearGirl rolled her eyes. This was not a geological expedition!  
  
Round the corner they already had something to deal with. Ice Burn - a bright purple Sand Maggot who was lightning-enchanted, magic resistant and extra fast - barred their way. The minions were easy to deal with when they weren't spawning young, but Ice Burn was lightning immune and took a bit longer. Still, no-one was in any real danger. Except maybe the Valk, who seemed even less disposed to living than usual.  
  
Finally, they reached the inner chamber; there, the golden chest glowed from within, hinting at the treasures it contained. SweetSpearGirl darted around the edges of the chamber, attacking adult maggots, eggs, and hatchlings. Euyfara targeted whatever took her fancy, and the Valk wandered around not doing much of anything except dying. Coldworm the Burrower was already down to half her hitpoints by the time SweetSpearGirl decided it was safe to target her, and while Euyfara died from poison and the Valk went down another three times, SweetSpearGirl was able to escape the chamber despite the maggot queen's cold-enchanted - and fire-enchanted! - death blast. As a side note, the beast also had spectral hit... as useless an attribute as she could've had, considering that she had no melee attack...  
  
Greiz accepted a shockingly high sum in exchange for raising Euyfara from the dead, and together they headed back down to gather in the loot and slay the remaining maggots. Finally able to flip open the golden chest, she picked up an ancient staff that tingled in her hands, as well as a lot of gold. Back in Lut Gholein, Cain was very excited by this... "The Staff of Kings! You astound me!"  
  
She stowed the staff, returned via waypoint to the Far Oasis, and proceeded to turn her physical-iimune vulture adversary Plague Maw into a dead physical-immune vulture adversary. Later on they met two packs of death beetles, led by Wrath Head the Tainted (extra strong, mana burn, teleportation) and Beetleburst (magic resistant, mana burn, teleportation, immune to lightning). These were dispatched without too much trouble, and SweetSpearGirl also recovered a golden pavise from the remains. Gerke's Sanctuary was a rather nice shield... if you used shields, that is.  
  
Finally, they ventured through into the Lost City. In ancient days, the civilization of the desert must have been vast and powerful... now, just a lost memory and crumbling stones. The waypoint was close to the entrance, so she activated it and twinkled her party back to Lut Gholein. Darkness fell with an unusual suddenness, and Drognan had a few words to say to her on the matter.  
  
"Tomorrow." was her firm reply after his talk of Claw Vipers and evil altars and desert temples. She slung her spear down by the stash, stripped off her armour, and was soon sleeping the sleep of the just in the warm desert wind. 


	5. SweetSpearGirl 05 Meeting the Summoner

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 5 - Meeting the Summoner  
  
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Cast of Characters  
  
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SweetSpearGirl, level 66 spearazon  
  
Euyfura, level 66 rogue merc  
  
The Ubiquitous Valk, frequently recast  
  
The Summoner  
  
TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...  
  
The day before, after hard fighting through the Claw Viper Temple and Jerhyn's palace cellars, our intrepid heroes had reached the Arcane Sanctuary waypoint, but so far, had gone no further than that. Today was the day when they decided to brave the horrors that lurked within Horazon's lair, in their attempt to discover whether the ancient Vizjerei was still alive...  
  
SweetSpearGirl was not in a particularly good mood this morning, after their close call with Fangskin and his boss Unraveller friend the day before, and this was only made worse when just off from the waypoint they encountered Grief Killer the Shade - a boss Ghoul Lord who as well as being Lightning Enchanted, was Extra Fast and even had Teleportation thrown into the mix. The Valk promptly expired as lightning spewed out - fortunately, the spearazon and rogue both had maxed lightning resists! Before the battle was over - a pack of ghosties hadn't helped matters by wandering in at the wrong moment - the Valk had needed recasting a further two times, but as Euyfura commented, "At least he wasn't physical immune!"  
  
And he did drop a full rejuvenation potion, alongside various unremarkable items and about 1700 in gold.  
  
This was not the only nasty boss they'd meet strolling along the narrow walkways of Horazon's sanctuary, though. Spirit Maim - a fire-enchanted goat demon with mana burn and a godsdamned Conviction aura - was quite a handful too at first. Oddly enough, it was the mana burning that was hardest to deal with - a level 26 Jab needed a surprising amount of mana to keep going and of course it did make Valk recastings difficult, but Grief Killer had conveniently dropped a couple of mana potions so SweetSpearGirl downed one before returning to the fray. In the end, Spirit Maim went down and coughed up some more purple potions, which were highly appreciated. (His other drop was some sort of fancy sword, which was utterly useless to everyone!)  
  
The Valk got stuck on a bit of stairway further on, so SweetSpearGirl and Euyfura had to take on the next pack of ghosties on their lonesomes. Instead of teleporting to meet them, the dumb blonde just vanished, so yet another recast was in order... this was getting tiresome, and SweetSpearGirl was starting to wonder whether she shouldn't just leave the Valk in the spirit world and save the distraction! The next pack of goatboys dropped a yellow Colossus Voulge, which SweetSpearGirl was hoping, would sell for a stupendous amount of money. Either that, or she'd give it to Greiz for one of his guards to use!  
  
More ghosties, more Ghoul Lords, a quick portal back to town for repairs, and oh good grief, the Colossus Voulge sold for less than Spirit Maim's sword. At least they both fetched over 15k in gold.  
  
Back to the fray, and working their way along the western arm they encountered a dead end with lots of chests and gold, guarded by a pack of ghosts and a Lightning Spire. While this meant that Horazon - if he was here at all - wasn't on this arm, the chests did contain a staggering amount of loot! Loot that, when sold to Fara, fetched something over 200k in gold! The Sol rune was much appreciated too...  
  
Back to it. The next battle was tough! Spectres, Ghoul Lords and goat boys swarmed them on a stairway and to her great surprise SweetSpearGirl had to down *three* fat purples. The few drops garnered from that fight were poor at best and this did not help her mood any! She needed more coffee!  
  
Back at the waypoint, they worked their way in the opposite direction, along the eastern arm; picking up a combat shrine and recasting an errant Valk along the way. The fights blended one into another, SweetSpearGirl battling her way through as her experience bar slowly crept upwards.  
  
Suddenly she gave a gasp of horror; her weapon - her faithful Lycander's Flank that had helped her defeat Diablo in the Nightmare world that seemed so long ago - split all along its length! It was useless! Quickly, she pulled her companions back, casting a portal and dragging them through it just as a pack of spectres and Ghoul Lords converged on their position.  
  
Fara looked over the badly damaged weapon. "I can fix this, but it'll cost," she said.  
  
"I thought as much," the speargirl groaned, making a mental note not to go gambling with the Gheedmeister anytime soon...  
  
Her gear repaired and polished and her loot sold to pay for it, SweetSpearGirl and her team headed back into the fray. In the middle of fighting a trio of Ghoul Lords - one of which had just chilled her - she noticed something. The Valk was standing back round a corner, doing bugger-all!  
  
"Oi! Stupid Valk!" she yelled. "I summon you to help me fight monsters, not stand there admiring the view! Dumb bint!"  
  
Fortunately the minion in question, while stupid, wasn't deaf...  
  
Another dead end. Euyfura sighed. "This is frustrating!"  
  
"You're telling me??" the zon replied. "I haven't even had coffee this morning! For which I feel very much like throttling Deckard Cain right now..."  
  
The northern arm of the Sanctuary was studded with red portals which led over gaps in the walkways and platforms. These were actually quite useful since goatmen and Ghoul Lords couldn't pass through them (spectres just floated over them), enabling Euyfura to plink away at them from a distance. The portals also had the effect of making the Valk catch up with the other two from wherever she'd gotten stuck, so as Euyfura reflected, "they can't be a bad thing."  
  
Suddenly as they fought they way along, a bolt of ice came whistling out of the void, and a curse swirled into existence around them  
  
"Is that Horazon?" yelled SweetSpearGirl into the darkness, but was answered only by a demented laugh. Monsters closed in on them; she fought them off and peered outward.  
  
A mage stood on a large platform where symbols of blue light danced and swirled. He laughed, a hollow, insane sound which seemed to freeze the adventurers' very blood. SweetSpearGirl opened a portal and they piled in, eager to get back to the safe, sunny environs of Lut Gholein!  
  
Where the townsfolk told them that no, they weren't dealing with Horazon. This was a mage who'd been in the battle at Tristram, and had been poking around here a few months earlier. A mad one, it seemed! Mad enough to try and take Horazon's place in the Arcane Sanctuary!  
  
He was hard to fight, too. He'd surrounded himself with a lot of goat-men and at one point one of his ice-bolts chilled the trio to the bone. But with his minions dealt with, he went down easy. And gave SweetSpearGirl a huge amount of experience. And dropped 12000 gold and a really heavy sword that sold for another 35k!  
  
There was a book on the platform which SweetSpearGirl leafed through. Reading it, she was able to open a portal to the Canyon of the Magi where the Seven Tombs were located. She went through, activated the nearby waypoint, and twinked back to town, needing rest. And coffee...! 


	6. SweetSpearGirl 06 Desert Victory

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 6 - Desert Victory  
  
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Cast of Characters  
  
------------------  
  
SweetSpearGirl, level 67 spearazon  
  
Debi Euyfura, level 67 rogue merc (she levels right after our hero usually!)  
  
Miss Frequent Cast 2003, the Ubiquitous Valk  
  
Duriel  
  
TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...  
  
The next morning, there was - at last - coffee. Thus refreshed, SweetSpearGirl conjured her Valk and, Euyfura in tow, headed out to the Canyon of the Magi waypoint with the symbol of the True Tomb of Tal Rasha written on the back of one hand. Hell Cats and Hell Slingers were the order of the day here; no bosses, plenty of loot, no problems.  
  
Inside the Tomb itself, things were a little different. They soon met Apparitions - like Spectres, but meaner - with Preserved Dead lurking around the edges of chambers. Large chambers held huge numbers of urns, which SweetSpearGirl searched for loot - finding lots of it, too! During a fight with two Preserved Dead who had been unfairly hiding in a large urn, she levelled to 67 and - since the Valk was dying altogether far too often - she decided to increase her training in summoning the bint.  
  
Now with her Valk pumped to slvl 7, SweetSpearGirl and company resumed their trek. The rest of the Tomb was fairly uneventful, except for packs of Preserved Dead who poisoned Euyfura on death, and several gems hiding in the urns. Turning the corner into an unusual chamber, they were beset by hordes of Apparitions and Preserved Dead and the Valk died; SweetSpearGirl, recognizing the chamber as one with its floor inset with the Circle of Seven Symbols, took the opportunity to return to town for healing, repairs, loot-selling and to collect the Horadric Staff from her stash.  
  
Then, it was back to the Tomb, for the final confrontation...  
  
Dispatching the hordes that had gathered in the chamber, SweetSpearGirl cast a portal, and, avoiding the obvious jokes about inserting the Horadric Shaft into the Horadric Orifice, plugged in the staff and waited till the light show was over. There, a dark entrance awaited, leading into Tal Rasha's burial chamber.  
  
They stepped through.  
  
"LOOKING FOR BAAL??" Duriel snarled.  
  
"Nope, you'll do just fine!" SweetSpearGirl yelled.  
  
Amazingly enough, fighting Duriel was easier than the bosses in the Arcane Sanctuary had been, and when he fell - after only one Valk recasting - he dropped another Colossus Voulge and something like 40,000 in gold. SweetSpearGirl and friends left the chamber as a swarm of maggots (fortunately not the Sand Maggot kind!) burst from Duriel's corpse - "Ewwww!!!" SweetSpearGirl shuddered - and further on they discovered Tyrael. He portalled them back to town, saying that Diablo and Baal had escaped him!  
  
"Dammit!!" SweetSpearGirl swore. She'd have to go to Kurast again! 


	7. SweetSpearGirl 07 In The Jungle

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 7 - In the Jungle  
  
=======================================================  
  
Cast of Characters  
  
------------------  
  
SweetSpearGirl - level 67 Spearazon w/Lycander's Flank  
  
Debi Euyfura - Rogue Merc  
  
The Ubiquitous va-va-Valk  
  
TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...  
  
It had not been a fun week. SweetSpearGirl had come to realize that spider bosses were very bad for her health, after she had been slain by some more than once! Not only that, but she had to collect together the vitals of a guy who'd been dead for years. Bleurgh.  
  
Oh... not to mention some sort of mystical dagger. She knew what Ormus could do with his Gidbinn and it involved places where the sun never shed light...  
  
She ventured out of town via waypoint, hoping it wasn't trapped - small, fast, yammering jungle tribesmen were not her favourite opponents. Sure enough, there were a few, complete with their Shamen, as well as Pulse Dancer the Witch - didn't look like a witch to SweetSpearGirl, more like another little bastage with a big blowpipe - who was mana burning, cursed and offered a spectral hit on top of that. He and his friends were not much of a problem once the shaman was out of the way, though; nor was the giant mosquito that buzzed in to see what all the fuss was.  
  
Pulse Tosspot offered up a flawless sapphire and rejuv potion, which were quite welcome; although what she really wanted was some Thul runes so she could socket a few of her uniques and set items. A perfect diamond would go quite nicely into her Laying of Hands gloves, she mused...  
  
Ice Break the *Flayer* was quite the appropriate name for the next boss fetish. He too was cursed with spectral hit ("what is it with these guys and curses?" Euyfura mused), and as if that wasn't enough, had multiple shots of his blowdart too. It didn't help that while they were fighting Ice Break the Appropriate, a pack of Thorned Hulk champions wandered in and started hitting our heroes for more hitpoints than was comfortable! SweetSpearGirl dragged the rogue through a portal just in time and got Ormus to lift the curse; they then strolled back and proceeded to set about their foes.  
  
The fact that the Ghostly one in the pack dropped a green ring was just the icing on the cake; Nihlathak's Good Deed was quite an interesting curio.  
  
A quick coffee break, and then back out to face the hordes of trouble again. More Flayers (including Death Drool the Dark - cursed, cold enchanted, multiple shot); more Shamen; oh look, a cursed boss Shaman with multiple shot and a fanaticism aura. Down you go, Bane Maim! Something dropped a green helm and something else a gold crowbill; it was at around this point that SweetSpearGirl levelled to 68, putting five stat points into dexterity and increasing her knowledge of Critical Strike. Dire Shifter (magic resistant, fire enchanted, cold enchanted, immune to both fire and cold) posed a brief diversion; then it was back to town. Although SweetSpearGirl spent some considerable time and gold gambling at Alkor's for a decent magic find ring and amulet, she came up empty-handed. To add insult to injury, nothing with Amazon skill bonuses appeared at all. "Please tell me," she muttered, "how I can benefit from +2 to Necromancer Summoning Skills?"  
  
Alkor did prove helpful, however, when a double boss pack of Thorned Hulks posed some trouble and SweetSpearGirl came to him for charms. Plenty of pluses to life, which was very useful. One of the bosses proved impossible to deal with - Sharp Dancer the Quick was extra fast, fire enchanted and stone skin, and that combination - making him physical immune and all but immune to fire - rendered him almost impossible to even make a dent in. Fortunately his buddies dropped an Io rune and a Raven Frost gold ring, which made up for it. Our intrepid trio parked Sharp Plonker and moved on. It was at about this time that SweetSpearGirl ran into an Experience shrine, and found a convenient few packs of Cloud Stalkers and giant mosquitoes to use it on. When the effect wore off, she was a good deal closer to the next level than she had been!  
  
SweetSpearGirl hated the jungle; it was humid and its inhabitants were a royal pain in the arse at the very least. But it did have its silver lining. Shortly after entering the Flayer Jungle, she levelled to 69 while parking Death Thirst the Jagged - a cursed physical immune Winged Nightmare boss who was enhanced with teleportation. Again, she upped her dexterity; this time, putting a point in Dodge. Grey Brow (magic resistant, mana burn, immune to lightning, holy fire aura) tried to stand in her way, but it was a futile effort.  
  
By now heartily sick of blowdart flayers, she ploughed her way through one immense pack after another (gems were dropping from them fairly frequently and a Nef and a Shael rune were both coughed up) - her only goal now, to find the waypoint.  
  
Two more armies of flayers and a pack of Winged Nightmares later, there it was. Phew!  
  
She activated it and returned to town for a well-earned rest, before heading back out again to find that Gidbinn. Ye gods, it was so hot! She really hated this place...  
  
Another long trudge through the jungle followed; ploughing through flayers and Soul Killers and winged nightmares. Finally, they stood at the Flayer altar where the holy blade rested. SweetSpearGirl reached out to take it; suddenly it vanished in flame! "What the...?" she was muttering, when the boss pack of Rat Men leaped out at her.  
  
"Oh, hell!" she cried; Flesh Wing the Hunter was not only a physical immune; not only was he extra fast; but he had a Fanaticism aura as well! This would be impossible!  
  
She gritted her teeth, determined to see this through.  
  
Five full rejuvs, six Valks, and a number of minions, Flayers, and Shamen later, he went down, dropping the fabled blade. SweetSpearGirl returned it to Ormus.  
  
"Here. This magic ring does me no good," he said. SweetSpearGirl could see why!!  
  
Stone Spiral  
  
Required Level: 29  
  
- 12% chance to cast level 4 Nova when struck  
  
- +5 to minimum damage  
  
- +1 to dexterity  
  
- +3 to mana  
  
- +1 to Light Radius  
  
"Fah!" she said, selling the thing to Hratli when she went for repairs.  
  
What was next?  
  
Oh yes. Khalim's Brain, the Flayer Dungeon.  
  
She had a headache. She didn't feel up to more of this crap today.  
  
SweetSpearGirl went to bed. 


	8. SweetSpearGirl 08 The Fall of Mephisto

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 8 - The Fall of Mephisto  
  
==============================================================  
  
Cast of Characters  
  
------------------  
  
SweetSpearGirl, level 70 Spearazon using Jab  
  
Debi Euyfura, Rogue merc  
  
Miss Frequent Cast 2003, the Ubiquitous Valk  
  
Mephisto, TC 78 Prime Evil  
  
The High Council, a bunch of troublemakers  
  
TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...  
  
SweetSpearGirl - now level 71 - was writing up her diary. It had been a day of equal parts good and bad - two deaths, two uniques, a Rune, the loss of much gold, and the defeat of Mephisto. She allowed herself precise recollection of place and detail as she jotted down her memories...  
  
SweetSpearGirl was never sure in these parts whether it was morning or evening; and the humidity made her perspire profusely in her heavy armour. Black Hades socketed with a Gemstone and a Magestone was a great piece of armour, but it didn't half weigh a person down, especially a lightly-built Amazon like herself. She wondered if sorceresses were ever able to cope with armour this heavy. Especially here, in Kurast.  
  
Her day had started as she twinked into Lower Kurast, the waypoint right near the entrance where she'd found it the day before. Casting the Ubiquitous Valk, SweetSpearGirl and Euyfura began slowly venturing into the heart of the corrupt city of the Zakarum. Tree Lurkers - relatives of the annoying little desert leapers they'd encountered near Lut Gholein - leapt up and clawed at our heroes but Lycander's Flank and Euyfura's Kuko made short work of them. More annoying were the Zakarumites and their ilk - after taking a certain amount of damage they had a tendency to run off and be healed by the lurking Cantors and Hierophants. This was a day in which poor Euyfura required frequent resurrections; the first was when SweetSpearGirl encountered Bane Maggot - a lightning enchanted, cold enchanted Zakarumite who was also Extra Strong. All too often, SweetSpearGirl was dumping gold by the 50k handfuls into Asheara's coffers; the leader of the Iron Wolves was no doubt pleased by her new-found wealth but SweetSpearGirl wasn't so happy! She was starting to run low on full rejuvs as well and bought a few fat reds from Ormus that she could throw to the Rogue as and when.  
  
Alkor wanted a word; seemed he'd lost a book in a ruined temple in the Kurast Bazaar and guess who he wanted to go and find it? Yep, our intrepid heroes. SweetSpearGirl was about to cry 'Onward and downward' as she entered the temple, but only got as far as 'Onwa - ' before the words were stopped short. The Ruined Temple was wall-to-wall Spider Magi, Wailing Beasts and Flesh Hunters; indeed, *three* boss packs were congregated near the entrance and she had to fall back to town several times and drink many of her precious purples! Now she found *herself* needing to use some of the fat reds she'd purchased from Ormus and as the battle slogged on she was downing them more often than Euyfura.  
  
The causes of all the trouble were Night Kill the Witch (who didn't look like a witch but did in fact look like a bloody big spider) - cold enchanted with a spectral hit and that damn Amp Damage curse; the Battlemaid Sarina (also cursed with a spectral hit, adding extra fast and teleportation to the mix!); and a Wailing Beast boss whose name and attributes she didn't catch as she was too busy trying to stay alive!  
  
Eventually these were out of the way and she was able to collect the Black Book of Lam Esen; Alkor very kindly gave her a set of stat points - to add to the ones she had from her recent level up to 71 - which she sank into vitality and boosted her life to 1006.  
  
Next, was the Kurast Sewers. "Yuchh," SweetSpearGirl shuddered; as humid as it was on the surface, the dankness of the sewers was frankly disgusting. "Searching for bits of dead guy in a sewer is not my idea of fun!"  
  
"Nor mine," Euyfura commented; "but Cain said - "  
  
"Oh, bugger Cain," SweetSpearGirl muttered. "He's a Horadric Mage, why can't he do some of this stuff for a change?"  
  
Her forebodings about the unpleasantness of the Sewers were only confirmed when they met Warp Skull - a boss Undead Stygian Doll who was not only lightning-enchanted but fire-enchanted with a spectral hit. SweetSpearGirl stood ready with a fat purple but even with that, 1006 life and maxed fire and lightning resists, Warp Skull's death explosion was too much. A one-hit kill and corpse recovery run later, SweetSpearGirl was thoroughly miffed and when the boss back of Preserved Dead led by Viper Cloud the Hungry - a bloody physical immune also possessing a spectral hit and teleportation - strolled out to greet her round a corner, she just laid into them like someone really miffed laying into a boss pack of Preserved Dead...  
  
It didn't help either that just as she was about to bypass Icehawk Riftwing (attributes uncertain but including lightning-enchanted) and head down to level 2 of the Sewers, the Valk was (once again) taken out, by a boss pack of Horadrim Ancients which began raising the nearby Preserved Dead the intrepid adventurers had previously dealt with.  
  
"Sod this," SweetSpearGirl muttered, throwing the lever and charging down the stairs.  
  
Level 2 was small, and contained - as well as a pack of Preserved Dead and a few Stygian Watchers - many golden chests filled with loot. This lifted their spirits somewhat and they were only helped when, shortly after emerging from the Sewers into Upper Kurast, a nameless Zealot dropped a Vex rune. SweetSpearGirl pounced on it straight away, already wondering about making a Silence bow for Euyfura if a powerful six-socket bow showed up...  
  
A few bosses later, someone dropped a nondescript set amulet at the entrance to the Kurast Causeway; but SweetSpearGirl's attention lay ahead. On Travincal, and the High Council.  
  
Travincal was a nightmare. Boss packs of Ghoul Lords and Hierophants launched painful elemental projectiles; dodging Zealots and Zakarumites that kept getting healed up, SweetSpearGirl concentrated on the Hierophants as much as she could and gradually they worked their way up toward the Council's domain.  
  
Ismail Vilehand appeared. SweetSpearGirl hit him once, realized his attributes, and fled! Extra Fast he was, yes; but it was the Cursed, Multishot Lightning-Enchanted attributes that made her backpedal! Euyfura went down more than once here; Geleb Flamefinger was Fire Enchanted, Cold Enchanted, Extra Strong and - like his friend Ismail - also extra fast. He dropped Khalim's Flail as he went down, so SweetSpearGirl pulled out via waypoint to once again recover Euyfura, and to empty her cube and transmute Khalim's Body Parts with his weapon.  
  
Back in Kurast, she was able to overcome Ismail thanks to judicious use of pots. Toorc Icefist however, was another matter - he was Physical Immune, Cold Enchanted and - yep, Extra Fast! as well as possessing a Fanatacism aura. Yeeek! After realizing that she wasn't making a dent, she speedily equipped Khalim's Will, smashed the Compelling Orb, found three hydras trained on her and the merc, and ran down into the Durance before Toorc could get a bead on them!  
  
The Durance was a nightmare too. Boss packs of Blood Lords loomed at them from everywhere and somehow, almost every monster they met - boss, minion or just ordinary creature - was acquiring a Blessed Aim aura from somewhere! Stepping on the Durance level 2 waypoint, SweetSpearGirl was happy to discover that the way down to level 3 was only a room and a corridor away. "Onward and downward..." she murmured with trepidation. It wasn't Mephisto so much that worried her... it was the company he was bound to be keeping.  
  
She was right to be nervous. After another corpse recovery - slain by Bremm Sparkfist and his bloody LE and Conviction aura - they had to run from a physical immune Maffer Dragonhand (comparatively, Wyand Voidfinger was easy to deal with!) and venture up onto the dais where the Lord of Hatred awaited them.  
  
"MY BROTHERS HAVE ESCAPED YOU!" he howled as he spotted them. Despite his bravado, and the big clouds of poison he swirled around him, he went down easily, dropping *two* uniques - Gerke's Sanctuary and a Gavel of Pain - as well as his soulstone, a blue War Axe and a couple of useless Rares. SweetSpearGirl saw piles of gold beyond the pillars behind him, but a boss pack of Blood Lords swarmed out complete with Might aura, so she decided discretion was the better part of valour and headed into the Infernal Gate, dragging Euyfura and a protesting Valk behind her. Farewall to Kurast! 


	9. SweetSpearGirl 09 Flee In Fear, Terror

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 9 - Flee in Fear, Terror  
  
==============================================================  
  
Cast of Characters  
  
------------------  
  
SweetSpearGirl, level 71 Spearazon  
  
Debi Euyfura, loyal (if cynical) Rogue merc  
  
Lady FrequentCast, the Ubiquitous Valk  
  
The Three Seal Bosses  
  
TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...  
  
*Welcome to Hell, SweetSpearGirl...*  
  
Sat by her stash, Euyfura on her right-hand side sleeping; her back leaning against the hard marble wall of the Pandemonium Fortress and idly flipping a Chance Stone into the air and catching it, SweetSpearGirl was only half listening to what Cain was telling her about Mephisto's soulstone. She was thinking instead, of something that Ormus had told her back in Kurast. "How does one cause Terror to flee in fear? You have a great task ahead of you, Ormus thinks."  
  
She hefted her spear and elbowed the Rogue in the ribs. "Wake up, girl. Time to go. We have work to do!"  
  
Euyfura stirred and glared. "Why do you have to be so bloody enthusiastic?"  
  
"It's my naturally occurring sweet nature. Come on, shift yer arse. Where's the Valk?"  
  
As it turned out, Lady FrequenCast was wandering around the entrance way of the Pandemonium Fortress, admiring Halbu's polished armour. Euyfura caught the glowing minion by the elbow. "Come on, you. The boss says we have to go and wallop some more evil buggers."  
  
The Valk brightened up at this - if 'brightening up' even more than she already was, was even possible - and together - and with some trepidation - they set forth onto the broken rocky steps bridging an immeasurable chasm, heading towards the gates of Hell.  
  
Fortunately, the previous evening's gambling with Jamella had neeted SweetSpearGirl an extra 16 life and 8% cold resist thanks to a couple of small charms, so SweetSpearGirl herself had 1041 life (and Euyfura not far behind on 913). Corpulents - nasty corspe-spiiting buggers that they were - went down without any problems and Doom Casters weren't so bad either. The diciest beasts in the Outer Steppes were Cliff Lurkers, the uglier and deadlier cousins of the sand leapers that infested the deserts of Aranoch. They hit surprisingly hard for their size, attacked in large packs of up to fifteen individuals, and weren't easy to pin down! More than once, a retreat to town was needed, and in the end SweetSpearGirl got tired of them - and of constantly recasting the Valk - and just headed straight for the next steps, down into the Plains of Despair.  
  
A few Burning Souls met them at the entrance, but not enough of them to be more than a minor irritation, and the trio began exploring another Mordor-like Hell landscape. This was when they met Grief Touch the Slayer. An extra fast fire-enchanted Pit Lord with the ability to burn mana, his minions quickly chewed through the Valk and SweetSpearGirl found he had drained the mana she needed to recast! A quick retreat to town - heal, recast, repair - and it was back out to meet him and friends (and a couple of Corpulents hanging round too). Fortunately, SweetSpearGirl's large amount of leech was sufficient for offsetting the mana burn, and soon Grief Touch was but a memory. As an added bonus, he dropped a Full Rejuv. "Cool!" SweetSpearGirl said, grinnning and throwing it into one of her empty belt slots. His other drops were a Dragon shield, ghost wand and bone knife - all useless to her, but worth a frankly shocking amount of gold.  
  
They were next menaced by a bright purple Doom Caster with a holy freeze aura - Foul Kill the Hunter, who was also fire-enchanted and had a spectral hit - and after he took down Euyfura and the Valk (three times) while SweetSpearGirl was only able to make slight dents in a couple of his minions, she decided they'd have to try a different approach. Tyrael, fortunately, dealt with merc resurrection (although why an archangel needed 50k gold was beyond any of our heroes) and the intrepid trio headed out again - not through the portal, but via the gate into the Outer Steppes. "We can catch the buggers on the stairs," SweetSpearGirl said to Euyfura. "Shame you don't have the strength to wear that Corpsemourn, it's got the highest defence on an armour I've ever seen."  
  
In the Outer Steppes (again), they were met by another Doom Caster boss pack, this one led by Steel Kill (cold-enchanted, cursed, spectral hit) which seemed to have befriended a nearby pack of cliff lurkers. The fight was a little dicey but fortunately only the Valk needed resurrecting. As Euyfura put it, "Buggers."  
  
They battled their way through the remaining inhabitants of the Outer Steppes (who dropped nothing of note; a blue ceremonial bow was found on a trapped soul but was - of course - useless) and were then standing at the entrance to the Plains. Foul Kill and friend were there - three of his minions floated through the gateway first, and he had the grace to stay put until they were dispatched. For all the trouble he'd caused earlier, it was a fairly straightforward fight with no more merc resurrections necessary. His aura didn't even switch on this time (although he did briefly poison SweetSpearGirl). He dropped nothing at all, not even a potion.  
  
Moving onwards, they encountered more Burning Souls, and Flesh Spawners and their spawn were Valk-killers. The fights were often long and arduous, requiring frequent town trips for healing and repairs, but gradually they moved on, deeper into Hell. The drops were generally unremarkable, but gems and chance stones were still dropping and something had been holding onto Arcanna's light plate.  
  
Then Izual, the dark Fallen Angel, spoke. Of course, it was typical that as he bore down on them with a blistering frost nova attack and a big sword, a swarm of Burning Souls and a Flesh Spawner saw fit to descend on them too. Seeing that Euyfura was taking hits, SweetSpearGirl pulled back to town yet again to heal up and repair.  
  
More Flesh Spawners showed up as the trio fought Mr Infinite Hit-points, but fortunately much of his attention focused on the ones who could take it - SweetSpearGirl and the Valk - and eventually he fell, dropping rare vampirebone gloves and a blue Naga. The gloves SweetSpearGirl picked up, but left the fancy axe. Tyrael was suitably pleased and gifted SweetSpearGirl with two skill points, which she invested in Penetrate and Valkyrie. The gloves were crap, but at least they fetched a large amount of gold.  
  
Back to it, and it was a relatively clear path between the site of the Izual battle and the entrance to the City of the Damned. Here they encountered Abyss Knights, who flung balls of elemental damage and were generally a big pain in the butt. The boss pack of Corpse Spitters (led by Steel Call - magic resistant, fire enchanted, lightning enchanted, and immune to both those elements) didn't help, and Euyfura went down. SweetSpearGirl retreated to resurrect her, and headed back.  
  
Fortunately the big bully went down fairly easily, and then it was onwards. Pit Lords were common here too, and packs of Corpse Spitter Champions barred their way. Stranglers - stronger versions of Doom Casters - were showing up too; nothing about Hell was easy! They fought through pack after pack, SweetSpearGirl's leech only barely keeping her alive at times; although she did level to 72 in the process. She boosted her dexterity to 230, sank a skill point into Evade, picked up a combat shrine, blasted through a big pack of Pit Lords, and charged on. Euyfura and the Valk went down again when six Abyss Knights and numerous Stranglers and Pit Lords challenged them across a narrow chasm; SweetSpearGirl had to finish the fight alone, but finish it she did.  
  
Abyss Knights were becoming real 'merc banes'; another pack of them took poor Euyfura down again. Both their physical and elemental attacks hit hard and hurt, and when Stranglers, Pit Lords and Maw Fiends (yep, even bigger and badder Corpse Spitters!) were added to the mix, it just became too much. SweetSpearGirl was really hoping to find a waypoint soon (even though a nameless Stranger had let a golden Tusk Sword fall into her lap). This was becoming very much not fun.  
  
Finally! After numerous fights and carting stuff back to town to pay for resurrects - there it was, by the entrance to the River of Flame. SweetSpearGirl took it. Time to rest for a while, before turning her attention to the dark realm of Heyfatso.  
  
There's no night in the Pandemonium Fortress, so she had no idea how long she or Euyfura had slep; but it was Cain who woke them, prodding them each with his staff. "Time's wasting! Diablo roams free in Hell!"  
  
SweetSpearGirl muttered a few imprecations against impatient Horadric mages and shrugged back into her armour. Time to go again...  
  
They waypointed to the City of the Damned and headed straight down to the River of Flame, to be met by maggots (*shudder*), Stranglers and Urdars. "At least there's no Abyss Knights this time!" SweetSpearGirl yelled above the sounds of fighting. Of course, the trouble with maggots (as they'd discovered with Coldworm!) is that they spawn in massive numbers. It was often some time before they could fight throw the swarms of young to get to the adults! SweetSpearGirl wisely bypassed a maggot boss in favour of paying more attention to Urdars and Stranglers, although a Maw Fiend boss pack offered some trouble. Grief Shard the Mauler (cursed, fire enchanted, mana burn) and friends were not so much a problem in themselves but they distracted SweetSpearGirl from dealing with the maggot young that swarmed around her and her posse at the same time. After dealing with Grief Scrote they headed back to finish off the local maggot population and move on. Someone dropped a Sur rune, which SweetSpearGirl considered a good omen, and someone else coughed up a full rejuv.  
  
Then she saw up ahead, the Hellforge. Knowing that Hephasto the Armourer would be lurking here, she moved ahead cautiously. Ahead of the big fat bugger himself were Strangers and Urdars and they took those out before continuing, throwing up a portal just in case. Then, there he was. Extra Fast, with a spectral hit, his infamous conviction aura and also teleportation-enchanced, he headed straight for Euyfura and took her out with one wallop from his Malus. He found SweetSpearGirl a tougher opponent, however, and it wasn't too long before he was biting dust. She got some purple potions out of him as well as the Hellforge Hammer, and smashing Mephisto's soulstone on the Forge itself yielded up an Um rune, among other gems.  
  
After finding the River of Flame waypoint, they were warned by Tyrael that Diablo himself lay ahead, and was not to be underestimated. SweetSpearGirl knew the battle ahead would be extremely difficult, but she was determined to see it through.  
  
"Then," she promised the other two and Cain, "I'll buy a round of ales in Harrogath."  
  
The main obstacle between them and the entrance to the Chaos Sanctuary, was the maggots. They were clustered thickly on the narrow walkways across the hellfires, and spawned their young faster than SweetSpearGirl and Euyfura could kill them off. Gritting their teeth, they ploughed through the swarms to take on the adults (and the occasional Urdar or Strangler that came to investigate) and by degrees grew nearer to their destination.  
  
Finally, they slew the last pack of Urdars, and stood at the very gates of Diablo's sanctuary. (It was at this point that SweetSpearGirl - acutely aware of her lack of storage space and diminishing funds - sold all the gems she possessed that were below flawless quality.) Tentatively, they stepped through.  
  
"Flee in fear, Terror," SweetSpearGirl said softly, as the first pack of Venom Lords descended on them.  
  
"Flee in fear."  
  
The battle to gain the Chaos Sanctuary was probably the most intense of SweetSpearGirl's life. It was populated by Venom Lords, Storm Casters, Doom Knights and Oblivion Knights. One of the latter cast Iron Maiden on her and she only noticed just in time to avoid killing herself. Slowly they worked their way deeper into the corrupt sanctum of the Lord of Terror, encountering a pack of Champion Oblivion Knights on the way (the only advantage to there being more than one of the bastards in the same place was that Iron Maiden often got overwritten by a less troublesome curse!). Euyfura died again during this fight and SweetSpearGirl, knowing the Rogue was too fragile to take on the Champion pack, completed it without her.  
  
Finally, the three of them stood on the central pentagram. SweetSpearGirl was only 700k experience away from levelling, and Euyfura not far behind. A big pack of Doom Knights and Storm Casters menaced them, and they fell back to pick off the enemies bit by bit. SweetSpearGirl and Euyfura both levelled to 73, although the latter died shortly afterwards again as another big pack of Doom Knights backed up by Oblivion Knights, hove into view near the first of the five Seals. Curses were not fun things, and it was easier when the Doom Knights could be separated from their magic-wielding friends and taken out one by one.  
  
SweetSpearGirl opened the first Seal and the three of them ran. Out swarmed extra fast Venom Lords led by the Infector of Souls (who was also physical immune thanks to stone skin, and had teleportation and a spectral hit); a pack of Oblivion Knights was keeping them company which didn't help! Numerous hit-and-run attacks later, SweetSpearGirl and the Valk were surrounded by Venom Lords and grimly took them down one by one. Thanks to his physical immunity, it was almost impossible to even make a dent in the Infector himself, so SweetSpearGirl eventually beat a retreat and took out a couple of stray minions and the Oblivion Knights hanging around the Seal. The second Seal lay opposite, so she activated that too.  
  
They were surrounded and beset by packs of, well, everything, as they moved on; and an Oblivion Knight, running away from them to fire his projectiles, led them back to the Infector of Pains In The Arse. They were able to lose him again, but SweetSpearGirl had to face - alone - a massive pack of Storm Casters, Doom Knights and Venom Lords which had completely surrounded her and taken out Euyfura and the Valk in short order. She was quite frankly, amazed that she lived through that experience (although more than one full rejuv had to be drunk to ensure her surival), and she quickly headed back to town to regroup.  
  
Fights of that nature dogged her all the way to the third Seal. She knew this one would unleash Lord de Seis, and she was very nervous about this fight. She tripped the Seal.  
  
Wonderful! He was Physical Immune as well! (plus extra strong, with multiple shot also in addition to his aura.)  
  
"Son of a BITCH!" she swore as fanaticism-enhanced Oblivion Knights fired off projectiles at her and her team. Narrowly escaping back to town, they would have to consider their next move very carefully.  
  
Eventually, they decided to return via the waypoint and head straight up the left-hand side of the Sanctuary to find the fourth Seal. Fortunately the Infector was not lying in wait along that route and at first all they met were Storm Casters. That would change soon enough. Doom Knights and Venom Lords swarmed them; a trio of Oblivion Knights in the background was lobbing cold projectiles, and SweetSpearGirl was only just able to keep herself alive (although Euyfura lived through the experience, which was surprising!) They found themselves near the fifth Seal, but didn't activate it yet, knowing that the Grand Vizier of Chaos and friends would be waiting. Instead, they turned their attention to the fourth, lying west of their position.  
  
The fourth Seal was guarded by a few Venom Lords and nothing else, so it was easily opened. Now for the test. The Grand Vizier would offer no opportunity for a quick getaway. SweetSpearGirl tensed herself, and opened the Seal.  
  
Euyfura died quickly. It seemed the Vizier was lightning-enchanted, but at first SweetSpearGirl was unable to find out what other enhancements he had. She retreated to the vicinity of her portal, recasting the Valk as she went and hoping a few minions would follow so they could be dealt with. Her mana had been all but drained, so she picked up a mana potion lying nearby and downed it in one gulp. "Better," she muttered, returning through the portal to get Euyfura resurrected. Maybe she could draw out a stray minion or two.  
  
Of course, instead, the whole lot came swarming after them. This was not good. Very not good. She got a bead on the Vizier and saw that he too was Physical Immune - as well as lightning immune, fire enchanted, lightning enchanted and extra strong. This was ridiculous. She returned to the River of Flame waypoint, to try again as best she could. This time, they were able to separate out and kill off the minions, but how they were going to deal with His Nibs - not to mention the Infector, and Lord de Shit over at the third Seal, none of them had the faintest idea.  
  
Then, Euyfura hit on an idea. "You've got that Buriza in your stash, right? Doesn't it have a crapload of cold damage built in?"  
  
"Yeah, but I'm not a bowazon, I couldn't string a bow to save my life!"  
  
"I'll show you how. I know you haven't got any bow skills but normal bolts might be enough to do the job."  
  
SweetSpearGirl nodded and pulled the heavy thing out of her stash. The ballista gleamed dully, looking threatening in the Pandemonium Fortress' perpetual twilight. Halbu sold her some bolts and, with Euyfura's guidance, she practised a little before returning to try it out.  
  
The fight with the Infector was long and tedious, using up a quiver and a half of bolts and needing about twenty recasts of the Ubiquitous Valk, but eventually he fell (dropping useless crap of course but then what does one expect?). The cold damage of the Buriza and firey attacks of Euyfura's arrows definitely worked on physical immunes, and SweetSpearGirl made a mental note to add a few points into important bow skills as and when she could.  
  
Now, onto the Vizier. This would be much tougher...  
  
In fact, it was pointless. His charged bolts took out Valks in seconds, and even hit SweetSpearGirl and Euyfura from a distance. Thoroughly disgusted, SweetSpearGirl returned to town through her portal. She had had enough. It was time to sleep on this. 


	10. SweetSpearGirl 10 The Fall of Diablo

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 10 - The Fall of Diablo  
  
=============================================================  
  
CAST OF CHARACTERS  
  
------------------  
  
SweetSpearGirl - level 75 Spearazon  
  
Euyfura - level 75 Rogue merc  
  
Miss FrequentCast 2004, the Ubiquitous Valkyrie  
  
Diablo, the Lord of Terror  
  
TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...  
  
After a fruitful afternoon gambling for charms with Jamella, SweetSpearGirl and friends headed back out to the River of Flame. Urdars, Stranglers and Grotesques were the order of the day, and SweetSpearGirl bypassed a pack of Corpse Spitter Champions in favour of approaching the Chaos Sanctuary as swiftly as possible.  
  
"Back into the lion's den," she murmured.  
  
"If only all we had to deal with *was* a lion," Euyfura added.  
  
Euyfura soon went down to a large pack of Grotesques and their Wyrms, while SweetSpearGirl herself was swarmed by a massive pack of Maggot young (seems there was a boss pack of Maggots somewhere nearby...) She took the head off of herself by judicious Valk recastings, stabbed her way through a pair of Stranglers, and moved that bit closer to her goal.  
  
The boss Maggot was Storm Spawn - extra fast, teleportation, spectral hit - and was easily dealt with; a few Grotesques and four Urdars later, SweetSpearGirl stood at the entrance to the Chaos Sanctuary. An Oblivion Knight and a pair of Doom Knights were guarding the gate, but the former did not cast any curses and so the villanous trio were easily dealt with. Euyfura resurrected, SweetSpearGirl and friends moved onward.  
  
A huge pack of Doom Knights homed in on them, backed up by Oblivion Knights and Venom Lords, and a Storm Caster menaced Euyfura from the sidelines. Twice, SweetSpearGirl got Iron Maidened, but she and Euyfura both survived the fight (thanks usually to Valk recasts) and soon the first step of the Chaos Sanctuary was theirs. SweetSpearGirl wasn't sure whether it was the charms she'd gambled, or the rest she'd taken prior to this attempt, but she was killing more easily, fighting harder and not taking so much damage.  
  
"Bring 'em on," she grinned.  
  
Euyfura shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Famous last words!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah," SweetSpearGirl said. "If we get our arses in gear the big lizard won't know what's hit him!"  
  
A pack of Champion Oblivion Knights was next up - while not exactly easy to deal with, they were less of a nightmare to deal with than SweetSpearGirl had feared, and - unless you count Valks - there were no deaths in the party. Storm Casters didn't hit hard enough to be a problem; Doom Knights and Venom Lords were fairly easily dealt with. Someone dropped a rare Ogre Maul, which, while far too slow and heavy for SweetSpearGirl ever to weild, did sell for a staggering amount of cash. Before long, the heroes stood on the central pentagram.  
  
"Now for the hard part," SweetSpearGirl said as they approached the top-left seal; she got Iron Maidened and narrowly avoided killing herself, but managed to withdraw in time before taking out her tormentors. She tended to attack the Doom Knights and Oblivion Knights first: they hit hardest, and the inbuilt spectral hit from the Doom Knights was annoying to say the least. A pack of them dropped a Chaos Armour, a Legend Sword, and Spider Bow; apart from that, the drops were pretty mundane and not in great quantity either. Finally, they triggered the seal.  
  
The Grand Vizier of Chaos was *not* physical immune like he had been last time; this was a good sign. Nor was he lightning-enchanted. Fire enchanted, cold enchanted, extra fast and extra strong he *was*, but none of these were particularly hard to handle and before long he and his minions were eating dust. The top-right seal triggered no monsters and the intrepid trio moved onward...  
  
The Infector of Souls was next. He turned out to be extra fast, spectral hit, fire enchanted and magic resistant - nothing particularly nasty, but hia minion pack was big and strong and quickly chewed its way though both the Valk and Euyfura. SweetSpearGirl finished the fight alone, taking out first the minions, then the Infector of Crap himself. He dropped a War Club, Legend sword, and Casque - nothing she could use, but they did pay for Euyfura's resurrection. She still wondered why an Archangel would need 50,000 gold though...  
  
Now for the most dangerous fight before Diablo himself. Approaching the last Seal, Euyfura died swiftly when two Oblivion Knights amp-danged her, opened fire, and she also got surrounded by Storm Casters and Doom Knights. The Valk went down quickly too and SweetSpearGirl found herself having to take them all on by herself. She managed it, but barely, and made a mental note to actually *use* some of the fat purples she carried!  
  
There were lots of Oblivion Knights along this arm of the Sanctuary. Finally SweetSpearGirl was able to slay the last of them, and opened the Seal.  
  
Of course - as (bad) luck would have it - Lord de Seis - Lord de Shit - was Physical immune!! She gritted her teeth and set to work; it was tough, but she eventually was able to take out his minions. Now for the bad mutha himself; she resurrected Euyfura again in hopes that the Rogue's elemental arrows would help.  
  
The Oblivion Knight boss was also (in addition to his stone-skin-ness) extra fast, extra strong and weilding his usual Fanaticism aura. She set to work, wishing she'd thought to stock up on mana potions, hating to waste her full rejuvs. Ah well. Couldn't be helped now; he was hitting her pretty hard anyway and soon she was glad of the purples! Finally, after seven of the potions had been drunk, he went down, dropping a Round Shield and some War Gauntlets. These weren't useful, but did cover the cost of repairs. She replenished her supply of potions from her stash, and knew now that it was time for the final battle...  
  
"NOT EVEN DEATH CAN SAVE YOU FROM ME!" Diablo bellowed - sounding much like a Goa'uld System Lord - but SweetSpearGirl charged him. "Flee in fear, Terror!" she roared in answer as he unleashed his attacks. His dreaded pink lightning hose took out Euyfura; he ignored the Valk and concentrated on SweetSpearGirl. His fists were chilling her; he was blocking most of her attacks; his twisting firestorm and flame nova were hurting; but enough of her attacks were getting through to leech back enough life to keep her going.  
  
Finally, Diablo roared in pain and fell to the ground. He dropped a Devil Star, Gothic Sword, Mesh Armour and Grim Shield (as well as a pair of mana potions). Not a single full rejuv had been needed, and as SweetSpearGirl headed back to the Pandemonium Fortress to resurrect Euyfura, she reflected on how easy the fight had been compared to the rest of the Chaos Sanctuary. Strange that the big green and black lizard had gone down so easily...  
  
Tyrael had praise - and bad news. Cain was all about the praise, but Tyrael's news was that Baal still waited ahead to be defeated. He opened a portal to Harrogath, the last unconquered Barbarian town on the slopes of Mount Arreat, and SweetSpearGirl looked forward to breathing the cool, crisp air again.  
  
They stepped through.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


	11. SweetSpearGirl 11 Destruction Awaits

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 11 - Destruction Awaits  
  
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CAST OF CHARACTERS  
  
------------------  
  
SweetSpearGirl - level 75 Spearazon  
  
Euyfura - level 75 Rogue merc  
  
Miss FrequentCast 2004, the Ubiquitous Valk  
  
Shenk the Overseer  
  
Eyeback the Unleashed  
  
Frozenstein  
  
Anya the Terrible  
  
TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...  
  
On arriving in Harrogath, SweetSpearGirl had been barely awake enough to take the gold for the items Diablo had coughed up, before she fell into a sound sleep, wrapped up the bedroll next to her stash. As morning came, she awoke refreshed, and noticed approvingly that the stash and waypoint were right next to each other. Although she was slightly miffed that Cain was taking to hanging out in the town square with Qual-Kehk and Nihlathak. Oh well.  
  
"Better him than me," she muttered. "Nihlathak isn't the kind of guy *I* want to hang around for too long."  
  
She went to speak to Malah and Larzuk instead, who were far more personable. It was Larzuk who told her and Euyfura about the siege raging outside the town gates, about the catapults that Baal had deployed, and about the Barbarian warriors fighting and dying out there. She resolved to end the siege. Plus Larzuk had mentioned that if she did, he'd craft a socket into one of her items, and she hadn't yet found the three Thul runes she needed to socket her Cracked Sash, so...  
  
Out in the Bloody Foothills, the trio encountered Death Maulers, Enslaveds, and Catapults. None were particularly troublesome, although they either had a lot of hitpoints or a high physical resistance since they took several hits each to kill. Barbarian fighters were useful distractions for large groups of enemies, and items were dropping here in higher quantity than back in Hell. SweetSpearGirl stuffed a plain Shako into her stash, thinking she could try and use Chance Stones to make a Harlequin Creast for Euyfura. Something also dropped an ethereal Superior Mage Plate and she held onto that, thinking that if she found some Eld runes she could set a couple of sockets in it and Smoke it for Euyfura.  
  
About halfway up the Foothills, they encountered Dac Farren (cold enchanted mana burner with a shock aura), and in the process of fighting him and a pack of Death Maulers that were along for the ride, SweetSpearGirl levelled to 76. She boosted her Avoid skill to 16 and her Dexterity to 278; her to-hit percentage was still only 73% but she reckoned it was better than nothing.  
  
"Better than yours, anyway," she grinned wickedly at the Rogue; Euyfura only had 184 dexterity and just rolled her eyes, firing off another volley of exploding arrows at a pack of Enslaveds.#  
  
"Least I don't need to run whenever I get Iron Maidened," the merc sniggered.  
  
A chance stone - the first they'd seen in ages - dropped, and SweetSpearGirl idly mused that if she got another she'd be able to reroll that shako. Funnily enough, shortly afterwards her wish was granted, and she portalled the party back to town. Of course, the chance stones turned the shako into a chipped emerald instead, prompting a smirk from Euyfura and some swearing from SweetSpearGirl, but in the end the latter just tossed the chipped gem into her stash and headed back to the Foothills.  
  
SweetSpearGirl and Euyfura worked their way up the eastern edge of the Foothills, with the Valk in tow as a sometimes-useful, sometimes-not, often-recast, tank. Soon they were fighting off Shenk's personal guard; SweetSpearGirl groaned, realizing that he was possessed of Stone Skin and thus physical immune! Suicide minions exploded all around as she struggled to get to him. Elite armours and weapons were dropping all over the place and she slung them into her Horadric Cube, before taking out three more Death Maulers and finding herself face-to-face with Shenk. His whip cracked and she found her was also extra strong and fire echanted; she was glad of her phat purples as she set to work and in fact she went through her *entire* stash of them before he went down and had to supplement herself with reds and blues instead!  
  
Finally, he went down. And he did drop a full rejuv for her, too! She portalled back to town, exhausted; getting repairs and healing and selling off the stuff she'd picked up. Larzuk eagerly socketed her belt and she plugged an Ith rune into it, figuring that fights with tough physical immunes would be much easier if some of the damage she took could replenish her mana!  
  
Time to rest; but not for too long. Qual-Kehk wanted her to rescue some Barbarian warriors trapped in the Friging Highlands, so that was what they went to do next. At the entrance they found a waypoint and also Eldritch the Rectifier (extra fast, cursed, mana burn), who was troublesome but not particularly dangerous, and who dropped a +36 to life grand charm which boosted SweetSpearGirl's life to 1259.  
  
"Onwards and upwards," she said with a grin; her usual catchphrase, and Euyfura muttered something insulting under her breath. Their trip through the Frigid Highlands was beset by annoying teleporting imps, siege beasts and fortifications; all annoying, but not particularly dangerous. Back and forth across the Highlands they ranged, slaying all in their path. They found three pens of imprisoned Barbarians - weaponless and defenceless, penned up and tortured by demons; breaking down the pens, they freed them to return to town and when Eyeback the Unleashed (extra strong, extra fast, fire enchanted, cursed) at the entrance to the Arreat Plateau, yielded up a three-socket Embossed Plate, SweetSpearGirl threw it in her pack thinking about making a Lionheart rather than a Smoke for Euyfura.  
  
The Arreat Plateau was crowded with Slayers, more imps, and champion and boss packs of Lashers; however, weary with the fight and needing sleep, SweetSpearGirl only killed the ones in her way and concentrated on searching for the waypoint. Eventually she found it near the edge of a precipice, took it, and twinked back to town. It would be time for more fighting tomorrow.  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


	12. SweetSpearGirl 12 Anya's Spear

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES: Chapter 12 - Anya's Spear  
  
======================================================  
  
CAST OF CHARACTERS  
  
------------------  
  
SweetSpearGirl, lvl 76 Jabazon  
  
Euyfura, Rogue merc  
  
Miss FrequentCast, the Ubiquitous Valk  
  
The day dawned bright and crisp. SweetSpearGirl had fought her way to the Crystalline Passage waypoint the day before and replenished her full rejuvenation stock while she was at it. Today would be a more dangerous task: the Frozen River.  
  
But first they had to get through the Crystalline Passage again. Champion packs of Moon Lords and Snow Drifters barred their way (one of them dropped a chance stone), and Euyfura bit the ice more than once. Stygian Harlots and Frozen Creepers were also lurking around - the former easily dispatched; the latter frustrating. SweetSpearGirl's cold resist was the only resist not maxed, so she had a tough time with them - often chilled as moon lords or other nasty buggers hove into view.  
  
Fortunately the Frozen River entrance was not far from the waypoint, marked by the presence of a Snow Drifter champion pack and a couple of Frozen Creepers. (She did *not* trip the Evil Urn near the entrance, having heard nasty stories about what a boss pack of extra fast cursed fanat-aura'd Moon Lords could do to a person.) Recasting the Valk (again) and gathering in the merc, the intrepid zon slid down the icy tunnel into the area. More ice, creating pathways alongside a chill river of slush. Long ago the Barbarian peoples had used the ice caves as refuges in times of trouble; the irony was that now, the surviving Barbarians were safer in their remaining towns, than anywhere else in the Northlands.  
  
Abominables - white-furred cousins of the Yeti beasts of the south - were the first to greet them as they picked their way along the ice. Here and there, rotting wooden bridges marked where the Barbarians had crossed the river and long-dead fires and piles of refuse marked their former happy camping grounds. Now the place was swarming with Rot Walkers and Blood Temptresses. The former didn't seem to know when they were dead and kept getting back up; the latter were just an annoyance, with their strangely ineffective curses.  
  
A boss pack of Death Slashers suddenly barred their way; a few arrows from Euyfura's bow provoked a swarm of charged bolts from the boss. Ash Froth the Wraith was an extra strong Multiple-Shot LE - SweetSpearGirl had considered herself lucky to have not run into an MSLEB since that boss Maggot back in the desert. Now it seemed her luck had run out.  
  
SweetSpearGirl survived the fight, but Valk and merc did not. While she and Euyfura had had enough sense to concentrate on the minions, the dumb Valk had gone straight for the boss; one spear thrust was all it took to put Euyfura on the floor. SweetSpearGirl finished off the minions and a pack of Rot Walkers that was slowly moving in, before focusing on Ash Froth. He went down fairly quickly, but she had to drink a few purples. (He dropped a few to replenish her stock, though.) Back to town to gather in her posse. Fortunately the next fight was easy - a few Rot Walkers. "Onward and... well, onward," she muttered, shivering in the cold that not even her heavy armour could protect against.  
  
Abominables, Blood Temptresses, Champion Death Slashers and Rot Walkers continued to bar their way as they worked on through the Frozen River. SweetSpearGirl slung magic items and potions into her Horadric Cube (fat purples were still dropping, which was appreciated!) and stockpiled gold (she was sure she'd need it). Fortunately there were no more MSLEBs and the loot was more than making up for Euyfura's resurrection costs, and repair costs for SweetSpearGirl's equipment. These fights took their toll on her weapon especially. She suspected Lycander's Flank really wasn't up to this kind of treatment and wondered if she should get herself a new spear...  
  
More Abominables, more Blood Temptresses; oh look, Euyfura's died again! An Ort rune dropped and a pair of Gauntlets with a golden glow around them fell from some nameless Abominable. Up ahead she saw something she couldn't immediately make out; gathering in merc and Valk, as they approached, they realized it was a young girl frozen in the ice!  
  
"This must be that Anya that Malah asked us to find," Euyfura commented.  
  
"Yeah, but how do we get her out of there?" SweetSpearGirl wondered.  
  
"Coffee?" Euyfura grinned.  
  
"We could try!" the spearazon laughed.  
  
But first, there was Frozenstein to be dealt with - a big boss cold-enchanted Frozen Abyss with a curse and a mana-burning ability who was also extra strong and cold-immune. Yikes. SweetSpearGirl threw up a portal in case a quick escape was needed and laid into them. After chasing a stray minion all the way round the platform where Anya sat frozen, SweetSpearGirl dealt with Frozenstein. His cold-enchanted death blast was surprisingly powerful and nearly took out the Valk, but while chilled to the bone, the intrepid trio still found enough strength to collect the loot and speak to Anya.  
  
"P-p-please, h-hero... Nihl-lathak did ththis... tell M-m-malah..."  
  
Portalling back to town, they got a potion from Malah to thaw out the chilly Barbarian, who returned to town as quickly as she could! Malah's reward was a scrool that when read, increased SweetSpearGirl's resistances (this was a good thing!) Anya also offered a reward: a Matriarchal Spear which was actually pretty powerful; SweetSpearGirl thought she'd try it on for size and see if it was any better than Lycander's Flank. Unfortunately it wasn't, and she sold the thing to Malah; the unique gauntlets turned out to be Frostburn's - nice, but not useful, and she sold those to Larzuk. Anya told them about some sort of holy relic that Nihlathak was going to give Baal, which would apparently be a very bad thing... so, SweetSpearGirl guessed, it was time to go after the Barbarian Necromancer with the unpleasant disposition. 


	13. SweetSpearGirl 13 The Fallen Necromance...

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 13: The Fallen Necromancer  
================================================================  
  
CAST OF CHARACTERS  
------------------  
SweetSpearGirl, lvl 76 Jabazon  
Euyfura, lvl 76 Rogue Merc  
The Ubiquitous Valk  
Nihlathak, the Fallen Necromancer  
  
Anya's portal yawned open, red and forbidding. SweetSpearGirl and friends stepped through, to find Nihlathak's Temple: a building high up on the mountainside, littered with the corpses of Prowling Dead. The snow whirled around them and the wind howled; it was very cold. Euyfura shivered in her skimpy Rogue clothing, far more suited to the temperate climes of the Monastery and Encampment far away to the south-west.  
  
A boss pack of Defiled Warriors with a Might aura, guarded the Temple entrance. Led by Pindleskin (who also was a fire-enchanted mana-burner) they attacked. The undead outside got up and joined in, and Euyfura went down. SweetSpearGirl recast the Valk and fought on. Someone dropped a flawless diamond as she did so; then a Sur rune and a green Hellforge Plate joined the haul. SweetSpearGirl had to recast the Valk twice more before finally defeating Pindleskin himself, but all the enemies in this narrow space had now been taken care of, and it was time to move on. Resurrecting the merc and cubing up the three Sur runes she now had (they became a Ber rune), the trio moved downward into the Halls of Anguish.  
  
Night Lords and Prowling Dead were the order of the day here. There was a lot of valuable loot, which was fortunate because the Night Lords were pretty mean. Euyfura almost went down more than once; SweetSpearGirl was coming to appreciate the Dol rune socketed in one of her rings which caused monsters to flee! Heading back to town to sell off the booty, they discovered the green Hellforge Plate was called Naj's Light Plate (a misnomer if ever there was one! - it was only 'light' because of the -60% requirements on it!) which SweetSpearGirl stashed rather than selling. The rest of the stuff turned out pretty useless but worth selling; gold was not a problem now!  
  
Most of the Halls of Anguish consisted of narrow, intersecting corridors. Monsters could be enticed down them and taken out one by one; SweetSpearGirl made sure to keep Euyfura as much out of harm's way as possible and feed her red potions when needed ("Thanks!" quipped the merc; "Next time, keep out of the way!" SweetSpearGirl said with half a grin, half an exasperated sigh). Where corridors intersected things were a little more hairy, and one lone Night Lord, thanks to the Dol rune, went charging off across half the level and woke up a pack of Prwling Dead before SweetSpearGirl finally managed to skewer it. The Prowling Dead seemed determined to stay Prowling rather than being Dead - every so often they'd move on only to find a pack they thought they'd killed, sneaking up behind them. The Valk - perhaps becoming infected by SweetSpearGirl's sarcasm - muttered something about 'not knowing when to stay dead'; Euyfura just rolled her eyes and fired off another volley of arrows.  
  
A barrel trapped by a perpetual fire (it yielding up 686 gold pieces and a ring), and a battle with two Night Lords and another pack of Prowling Dead, marked the trio's discovery of a glowing golden chest. SweetSpearGirl threw up a portal and opened it; out fell some spiders, 570 gold pieces, a mana potion and a rare Mancatcher. Nothing more. Nothing like the chests she'd discovered back in the westlands! She muttered rudely about 'stingy Barbarians' while slinging the yellow spear into her Cube. It too was no match for Lycander's Flank, but it did fetch a shocking amount of gold from Larzuk (75,000 gp...) The ring from the barrel was equally useless (Ring of the Titan; 18 to strength) - but sold for a far less impressive price. Her stash was basically up to its gold limit anyway. SweetSpearGirl shrugged and returned to battle.  
  
The rest of the Halls of Anguish was much of a muchness with what had gone before; a Colossus Crossbow dropped, and SweetSpearGirl levelled to 77, but everything else was unremarkable. She sank the stat points into Dex again and the skill point into Critical Strike (boosting her chance of double damage to 66%), and found the way down to the Halls of Pain.  
  
Unholy Corpses - an upgrade on the Prowling Dead with an equal reluctance to stay dead - were the first to greet SweetSpearGirl and friends. hey were swiftly followed by Death Brawlers, whose burrowing tentacles tended to attack Euyfura. Fortunately, they went down quickly enough. Also present were Putrid Defilers, who hovered near other monsters and infected them with Torment Worms who burst out and attacked on the monster's death. These were annoying, but not particularly dangerous, just like everything else here.  
  
The trio got into the habit of dealing with Death Brawlers and Defilers first - since once they were down, they stayed down - and then taking out any Unholy Corpses. This strategy served them well as they worked their way through the Halls. Drops were unremarkable at best ("It's all junk!" Euyfura said in frustration) but that was OK ("I need to gamble away some of this gold anyway," as SweetSpearGirl replied). Eventually, SweetSpearGirl stopped picking stuff up and just concentrated on fighting; at about the same time, Euyfura levelled to 77. Shortly after, they found the waypoint and headed back to town; despite Anya's protestations of urgency, SweetSpearGirl decided to do some gambling.  
  
Back to the fray a bunch of gold poorer but a few charms richer. The Valk took an age to catch up with them, by which time SweetSpearGirl and Euyfura had already dispatched a pack of Death Brawlers. A well further on helped replenish the Valk's life; then, a little further, was the way down to the Halls of Vaught.  
  
At the bottom of the stairs, SweetSpearGirl threw up a portal. Anya had warned her about Nihlathak's main power: a very dangerous corpse explosion; more dangerous than the Iron Maiden curse the Oblivion Knights had thrown in the Chaos Sanctuary. SweetSpearGirl and Euyfura were very wary...  
  
In the Halls of Vaught they found Ice Spawn - some of whom were infected by Menace Worms. As they moved on they encountered Hell Tempresses and Wretched Defilers (who were doing the infecting). The Halls of Vaught were basically made up of four arms, each of which swarming with monsters; they knew Nihlathak waited at the end of one of them. At one point SweetSpearGirl had to throw Euyfura a fat purple as they were surrounded by enemies. Someone dropped a Shael rune at the end of the third arm of the hall. Nihlathak, as luck would have it, was apparently lurking at the end of the fourth...  
  
Euyfura went down quickly; a big pack of Ice Spawn and Hell Temptresses swarmed them from a central podium where Nihlathak hovered in mid-air. "For my homeland!" he cried. "I will kill you!" SweetSpearGirl fell back, hoping to draw the enemies along with her. Gradually they followed; taking out Ice Spawn, Hell Temptresses and Menace Worms, she hoped to eventually be able to close with Nihlathak one-on-one, which she was able to do soon.  
  
He hit her with blasts of cold and teleported about, but the monsters he spawned she ignored. Shaking them off onto the Valk, she followed the corrupt sorceror, attacking and stabbing. Eventually he fell; his screaming skeleton was pulled down into Hell and he dropped a nice fat purple for her. Heading back to town, SweetSpearGirl roped in Euyfura, had identified the stuff she'd picked up, and talked to Anya. Nihlathak had already given the relic to Baal. This was a Bad Thing...  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


	14. SweetSpearGirl 14 CockUp

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 14: Cock-Up  
=================================================  
  
CAST OF CHARACTERS  
------------------  
SweetSpearGirl, lvl 77 Jabazon  
Euyfura, lvl 77 Rogue merc  
The Ubiquitous Valk  
  
The fight through the Crystalline Passage toward the Glacial Trail, was a running battle with Moon Lords, Stygian Harlots and Frozen Creepers. Fortunately they made it to the Glacial Trail entrance alive and well, ready for whatever awaited them. "Onward and upward," SweetSpearGirl grinned, her confidence well restored after her victory over Nihlathak. Euyfura was not so confident, her not having been there for that fight...  
  
In the Glacial Trail, they met Death Slashers and Frozen Terrors. SweetSpearGirl still had yet to boost her cold resist, so the latter were a pain in the ass. Then the Reanimated Horde - the local version of Prowling Dead - showed up. This was annoying, although not dangerous. The Valk needed recasting, but this was no different from usual; everyone was - quite frankly - bored. The Death Slashers seemed to like fixating on the Rogue, however, so SweetSpearGirl decided to try out Decoy for the next fight. She set herself up to call upon her Valk and Decoy abilities at will, switching back and forth between the two with ease. Thus prepared, she moved deeper into the Glacial Trail.  
  
The Decoy had a remarkable effect on the Reanimated Horde packs they next encountered, taking heat off all three of the adventurers. "Well this is a bit of all right!" Euyfura commented.  
  
"Uh huh!" SweetSpearGirl replied. "Remind me to use this ability more often!"  
  
"I'm sure you won't need reminding when the next MSLEB pack shows up," Euyfura said with an evil grin, and the Jabazon just shuddered and attacked a Reanimated Horde that had gotten back up.  
  
Next up was a Champion pack of Abominables and some Death Slashers, backed up by Frozen Terrors; the trio had to back off to deal with them, especially as more Reanimated Horde were wandering down a nearby passage, dragging their massive rusty swords along with them. The fight was lengthy but with no really dicey moments; Decoys placed at will really helped, and afterwards, they were rewarded by the sight of a waypoint glimmering in the ice. They took it back to town, and rested (at least, once they could escape Anya's drooling over Larzuk...).  
  
After a fruitless hour gambling for charms, it was back to it. SweetSpearGirl spammed Decoy ahead of the group, and it was well she did because just out from the Glacial Trail waypoint they met Bane Drool - a physical-immune boss Abominable who was LE with a nasty Conviction aura! He surrounded Euyfura and the Valk - a Frozen Terror sneaking up from a side passage breathing cold over everyone didn't help - and SweetSpearGirl was only just able to drag her merc back through the waypoint in time. Recasting the Valk, they got healed up and went back through hoping this time to pick off the minions one or two at a time.  
  
Unfortunately the Decoy pulled the whole pack of them right down onto the waypoint. Another narrow escape later, SweetSpearGirl was forced to concede defeat.  
  
"Crystalline Passage waypoint?" Euyfura suggested.  
  
"Yup," said SweetSpearGirl. "There's plenty of unexplored Glacial Trail; hopefully we won't attract those buggers again!"  
  
The Valk just glowed, wandering here and there aimlessly. At one point she tried to attack a vicious snowflake.  
  
In the Crystalline Passage there was a narrow escape when Frozen Creepers pinned Euyfura against an icy stalagmite, but someone dropped a green Gothic Shield. Which was fine if you used shields. Which neither SweetSpearGirl nor Euyfura did. But still... maybe it was a good omen. SweetSpearGirl deliberately avoided tripping Evil Urns; any tricky boss packs like Bane Drool's were best avoided whenever possible! They did nonetheless encounter a Moon Lord pack led by Foul Cloud (fire enchanted, spectral hit, stone skin - immune to physical) and SweetSpearGirl ground her teeth in frustration as they chased the trio all the way back to the waypoint. This was not turning out to be a good day! Euyfura went down and the Valk expired again, both to the boss. SweetSpearGirl slew the two remaining minions and retreated to town for repairs and resurrections. Her attacks weren't making a dent; the beastie was also fire immune which didn't help! Qual-Kehk wanted to talk about SweetSpearGirl facing off against some Barbarian Ancients, but she just wanted Euyfura revived and some help against that damn boss!  
  
Its physical immunity meant that she couldn't leech mana - which she needed to keep the Valk up. She slung fat purples into her cube and instead filled her belt with blues; hopefully they could kill the damn thing before she ran out of potions! Cast Valk; back through the waypoint; cast Decoy. It was hopeless; instead SweetSpearGirl ran, followed by Euyfura, in the hope that the boss could be left behind. Two Frozen Creepers were taken unawares and shattered, but so far, no sign of Foul Cloud...  
  
An extra-fast conviction-enchanted boss pack of Moon Lords barred their way. Surrounded by Frozen Creepers, beset by Moon Lords and with only a sliver of Euyfura's life left, they had no choice but to retreat.  
  
"Screw this!" SweetSpearGirl growled bitterly. "I'm sick of this! Fighting and fighting and fighting and never getting anywhere! Why don't I just retire here and now!"  
  
Euyfura recognized when her boss was in a funk and wisely, said nothing.  
  
Eventually, SweetSpearGirl slept.  
  
(The green gothic shield turned out to be Isenhart's Parry. Nuff said...) 


	15. SweetSpearGirl 15 The Ancients Await

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES - Chapter 15: The Ancients Await  
============================================================  
  
Cast of Characters  
------------------  
SweetSpearGirl - lvl 77 Spearazon  
Euyfura - lvl 77 Rogue merc  
The Ubiquitous Valk  
  
"SO IT CAME TO BE THAT THE THREE PRIME EVILS WERE BANISHED IN SPIRIT FORM TO THE MORTAL REALM, AND AFTER SOWING CHAOS ACROSS THE EAST FOR DECADES, THEY WERE HUNTED DOWN BY THE ORDER OF THE MORTAL HORADRIM. THE HORADRIM USED ARTIFACTS CALLED SOULSTONES TO CONTAIN THE ESSENCE OF MEPHISTO, THE LORD OF HATRED; AND HIS BROTHER BAAL, THE LORD OF DESTRUCTION..."  
  
SweetSpearGirl was doing some research. She'd been fighting so long and hard and finally decided it was about time she looked into exactly why she was fighting, and what for. It was a long and complicated history covering several continents and uncounted centuries of time. Euyfura had never seen her friend in such a serious, studious mood; the latter had even approached Cain willingly for advice and information. He'd told her as much as he knew, adding at the end, "I have spent decades trying to understand the forces at work in this world, but in the face of all of - this, I realize just how meagre my knowledge is. I will help you where I can, my friend!"  
  
She considered this, then raised her Lycander's Flank and cast a Valk. "Let's finish this for good or for bad," she told Euyfura.  
  
"Or for worse..." the Rogue muttered as they headed for the waypoint and twinked out to the Glacial Trail.  
  
"So far so good," Euyfura said, a pack of Death Slashers and some Reanimated Horde later. The weapons were still doing their jobs; the Valk was still as aimless as ever; but SweetSpearGirl seemed to have some of her old energy back.  
  
"Almost as if all that time studying gave her fresh resolve," Euyfura thought, but didn't voice it aloud. The Amazon had been badly depressed of late, ever since the boss Moon Lords had last driven her from the Ice Caves. Now things seemed different. Better. OK, so Frozen Terrors were still a pain in the butt, but for the first time in ages - since before rescuing Anya, in fact - SweetSpearGirl seemed to be enjoying the battle.  
  
SweetSpearGirl was developing the habit of casting Decoys ahead of herself to draw out monsters. This was helping; a Champion pack of Death Slashers was not helping. Despite the assistance of ordinary Death Slashers and Reanimated Horde, they were dealt with (dropping the first Chance Stone in ages), and one more tunnel in the Glacial Trail was mapped out in SweetSpearGirl's head.  
  
"I could remember these tunnels like the back of my hand," she commented offhand.  
  
"The back of your hand is always wearing those set Bramble Mitts!" Euyfura shot back with a smirk on her face.  
  
"Trust you to be a smart-arse, Rogue," SweetSpearGirl grinned. "I should set you up with that tenor in the Barbarian Choir, you know, the one we rescued in the Frigid Highlands. He's almost as bad as you with his smart remarks!"  
  
"Yuck, no way," Euyfura said. "I'd rather date Gheed!"  
  
"I do not need that image Euyfura!" the spearazon laughed.  
  
Helping their newly rediscovered high spirits was a drop of over 21k in gold, and their discovery - after much cautious Decoy-casting and creeping forward - of the passage up and out of the Ice Caves.  
  
"We must be pretty high up the mountainside by now," Euyfura said as they emerged onto the Frozen Tundra.  
  
"Yeah," the spearazon agreed. "Like I always say - Onward and upward!" she added with a grin.  
  
"Look at these trees, aren't they fascinating??" the Valkyrie commented. Euyfura rolled her eyes and readied her bow.  
  
Demon Tricksters haunted the snowscape - another variety of those damned teleporting imps the adventurers had grown so tired of in the Frigid Highlands. As always they were accompanied by Crush Beasts, from whose backs they sprayed infernos indiscriminately. Fortunately, while they were good at confusing the Valk, they were not a particularly major threat (unlike Moon Lords!) and while SweetSpearGirl's muscles ached from jabbing, she persevered through the enemies. Eventually they all got tired of the imps and simply ran for it; SweetSpearGirl stopped once briefly to recast the Valk, but shortly afterwards - as Anya and Qual-Kehk had told them - they found another icy passage into the mountain's heart and entered the Ancients' Way. Here SweetSpearGirl stopped and cast a Decoy ahead of them.  
  
The first one attracted no attention, but then Frozen Scourges and Death Slashers came wandering up. Euyfura fired arrows till her fingers ached from plucking the bowstring, and SweetSpearGirl kept casting Decoys, but there was no real danger to the party.  
  
Then the Moon Lords showed up. Two of them barreled out, flinging themselves on the Decoy. Fortunately, although backed up by Frozen Scourges, they were easily taken care of and the trio moved on. Slowly and cautiously, casting Decoys around every corner and the cold making them shiver beneath their armour, the party moved deeper into the mountain's icy heart. Mind Shield (spectral hit, cold enchanted, multiple shot, cold immune) showed up - he and his Frozen Scourge minions caused the Valk some trouble, but for SweetSpearGirl and Euyfura they were less trouble than a pack of Enslaved and when Mind Shield went down, he left a nice gift: a gold Phase Blade which identified as a Lightsabre ("I can hear you Euyfura, humming the Star Wars theme song!").  
  
Next up was another Frozen Scourge boss - Seethe Eye, this time fire-enchanted, spectral hit and teleportation-enhanced. SweetSpearGirl set to work on the minions, leaving the Valk to tank Seethe Breath. The minions had very little room to move in the narrow tunnel, so while Seethe Eye teleported a couple of times - bringing back four Moon Lords and some more Frozen Scourges with him - the fight was soon over. SweetSpearGirl recast the Valk, opened up her Horadric Cube and looked over her ill-gotten gains.  
  
"Not bad for a morning's work, eh?"  
  
"Not bad at all," Euyfura agreed. "Want to find the waypoint before we take a break?"  
  
"Sure. Anya said there was one down here."  
  
"Onward and downward then, huh?"  
  
"Hah! Better be careful, Rogue - you're starting to sound just like me."  
  
"No chance of that, I'm too cynical," Euyfura retorted, sticking her tongue out at SweetSpearGirl before drawing her bow on a pack of Moon Lords the Decoy had attracted. (The Valk wandered into the fray just in time to distract the last of them.)  
  
Two more Frozen Scourges and a trapped jar later, the waypoint was theirs; SweetSpearGirl, Euyfura and the Valk returned to Harrogath, just in time for lunch.  
  
An hour later, they returned to the Ancients Way. More Death Slashers; more Frozen Scourges. The Valk was even less help than usual, wandering off at points in the middle of a fight, but she did at least distract the enemies long enough for them to get to know a Lycander's Flank intimately via the sharp end. SweetSpearGirl was at one point very glad of her life leech when three Moon Lords surrounded her and quickly took out both Valk and Decoy!  
  
"I live for these hairy moments!" she grinned.  
  
Euyfura rolled her eyes again. "I know, that's why you have to keep resurrecting me!"  
  
"You are replaceable, Rogue," SweetSpearGirl snorted.  
  
"With what, Mr Tenor from the choir?"  
  
Suddenly a Succubus boss pack appeared and rapidly bore down on the Decoy. Their leader - Wrath Head - sported a fanaticism aura and possessed a stone skin - a damn physical immune! (She also had a spectral hit, which didn't improve matters much.) SweetSpearGirl set to on the minions, knowing she could leech from them. She decided to leave the boss busy with a Decoy and move on, hoping to lose her; Wrath Head's life was going down, but too slowly to avoid mass purple pot drinking. And SweetSpearGirl knew she'd need to save every last purple for the Ancients - and then some.  
  
Up ahead, it was as if the floodgates had opened. At least twelve Death Slashers, four Moon Lords and a pair of Frozen Scourges converged on them. Several Valk recasts were needed; SweetSpearGirl almost had to reach for a purple potion, but not quite.  
  
"You know, these hairy battles are just warm-ups," she said to Euyfura.  
  
"Thanks for reminding me," the Rogue said, gritting her teeth. "I'm not looking forward to this business with the Ancients."  
  
"Nor am I, believe me," the Amazon replied. "But I did for Nihlathak; we dealt with Shenk and rescued Anya - hell, we did for Diablo! We should be able to beat those guys."  
  
"I hope you're right."  
  
"So do I."  
  
A few more fights (including a pack of Champion Succubi) saw them standing at the entrance to a dark passage leading up and out; SweetSpearGirl could peer up and see daylight at the other end.  
  
"This must be it," she said softly. "The fabled home of the Ancients. Are you guys sure you're up to this?"  
  
"Wouldn't miss it!" Euyfura said; the Valk just glowed and gazed innocently at the icy wall.  
  
"You don't fool me," SweetSpearGirl said. "But thanks." She smiled. "Let's go."  
  
They emerged onto the very summit of the mountain in swirling snow. Below them lay miles of Arreat's slopes - walls and barricades spread out like toys. Harrogath could be seen far below, the sunlight glinting off its snow-topped buildings. She could almost see Cain and Larzuk from here...  
  
"We are the spirits of the Ancients Ones. We have been chosen to guard the sacred mountain wherein rests the Worldstone. Few are worthy to stand in its presence. Fewer still can comprehend its purpose. To enter the Keep, you must defeat us."  
  
The statues surrounding the central aura were enveloped in swirls of light. Then they attacked.  
  
The first moments were dicey - Euyfura went down and SweetSpearGirl had to run and drink potions and throw up Decoys. Eventually she managed to separate two of the Ancients from the third and one by one she took them down. None of them was physical immune which was fortunate! As the last fell, they spoke again, telling her how Baal's purpose was to gain control of the Worldstone and thus open some sort of unstoppable gateway to Hell.  
  
"Well that's not good," she said, portalling back to town. She noticed as she did so, that the battle with the Ancients had boosted her to level 78... 


	16. SweetSpearGirl 16 Final Journey

SWEETSPEARGIRL'S ADVENTURES: Chapter 16 - Final Journey  
=======================================================  
  
Cast of Characters  
------------------  
SweetSpearGirl - lvl 78 Spearazon  
Euyfura - lvl 77 Rogue merc  
The Ubiquitous Valk  
Colenzo the Annihilator  
Achmel the Cursed  
Bartuc the Bloody  
Ventar the Unholy  
Lister the Tormentor  
Baal, the Lord of Destruction  
  
TAKE HEED AND BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTHS THAT LIE HEREIN, FOR THEY ARE THE LAST LEGACY OF THE HORADRIM...  
  
SweetSpearGirl had boosted her dexterity to 288 and sunk one more point into Critical Strike (her chance to do double damage was now 67%). She knew that there was one more battle to be fought.  
  
"After this," she told Euyfura, "you and I are going to have a well-deserved holiday. Probably in Lut Gholein."  
  
"Sounds good to me," Euyfura said. "What now?"  
  
"Now, we find the Worldstone Keep waypoint Anya told me about. Then, we kill Baal."  
  
The portal back to the Summit was still standing, so they headed through it and into the Worldstone Keep. Vile Witches threw fireballs at them, Defiled Warriors refused to stay dead, and Fetid Defilers infected the monsters with Torment Worms. All things they'd seen and battled before. Loot dropped and SweetSpearGirl fought, her life ball dropping then going back up as she leeched vital energy from her foes. Baal's laughter echoed through the Keep and he assaulted the Decoy with lightning and poison, but the others kept moving so weren't targets. SweetSpearGirl felt utterly confident in her abilities after passing the Ancients' test.  
  
"We can do this!" she yelled over the sounds of battle. "There's nothing Baal can throw at us that we can't overcome!"  
  
"Famous last words!" Euyfura said, but even she was buoyed up by a feeling of almost euphoria as they fought their way through the Keep. In the middle of battling a dozen Defiled Warriors, she levelled to 78, keeping pace easily with the spearazon. Soon after, they found the stairs leading downwards to the next level - deeper into the mountain's heart, towards the Worldstone itself.  
  
Greater Hell Spawn and Frenzied Ice Spawn were the order of the day on level 2; SweetSpearGirl shook the latter off onto the Decoy and Valk, neither of whom were affected by the explosions (Euyfura wasn't either, but she found that out by accident when one blew up right next to her). The way down to level 3 was very near the entrance, but SweetSpearGirl wanted the waypoint first and so continued searching and fighting. As luck would have it, it was only one pack of Hell Spawn away - which everyone thought was very convenient.  
  
Level 3 was alive with Demon Sprites - more of those damn teleporting imps! - and Death Lords were thrown into the mix (bigger, badder cousins of the Moon Lords, eeep...). Rancid Defilers also put in an appearance just to spread Menace Worms around the place. Fortunately the Sprites, while annoying, were easily dealt with, and the Death Lords - while just as bad-ass as their cousins - were few and far between. The fighting was fast and furious; the Valk expired more than once; and when they found the next saet of stairs down into the lowest level of the Keep, SweetSpearGirl portalled to town for repairs and loot-selling.  
  
Back in the Keep, they marched down the stairs and found a pack of Stygian Furies tossing fireballs and curses. Those and more Death Lords were the order of business here; SweetSpearGirl set to work, furiously attacking everything she came across. Euyfura went down at a close moment when three Death Lords and a pack of Stygian Furies casting Amp Damage cornered the trio, but SweetSpearGirl weathered the storm and revived her merc.  
  
Soon enough, it was time to face the Lord of Destruction. Baal had set up his throne on a dais at the end of a long hall, guarded by more Death Lords and Stygian Furies. As SweetSpearGirl finished them off, he laughed and cast Decrepify on the trio. She threw up a portal at the hall's entrance, and then he spawned his first pack of minions.  
  
Colenzo the Annihilator (fire enchanted, spectral hit, teleportation) led a band of Warped Shaman, and insisted on resurrecting them until SweetSpearGirl recast the Valk, got in his face and finished him off. The Unravelers and Death Mages of Achmel the Cursed (poison-immune, cursed, fire enchanted) were less easy to handle. SweetSpearGirl led some of the skeletal mages out of resurrection range, and discovered that Achmel didn't resuurect his Unraveler minions; but Euyfura went down thanks to the incredibly potent poison they spewed. Gritting her teeth and swearing, SweetSpearGirl finished the fight.  
  
Euyfura revived and the Valk recast, they returned to the throne room and threw up another portal. Wasting a straggling Mage, SweetSpearGirl cast a Decoy out into the hall and soon attracted some attention.  
  
Bartuc the Bloody was cursed, lightning enchanted, and extra fast (luckily not multiple-shot!). His powerful Council minions threw up Hydras and SweetSpearGirl found herself running and recasting the Valk a lot. Euyfura went down again - which, honestly, SweetSpearGirl had been expecting - but she, the Valk and the Decoy had distracted Bartuc and friends long enough for SweetSpearGirl to make short work of the rest of them.  
  
Next up: Ventar the unholy and his Venom Lord friends. Ventar was extra fast, fire enchanted and lightning enchanted; Euyfura died again very quickly and the Valk was of almost no use. SweetSpearGirl realized that the Venom LOrds were clustered so thickly that they couldn't flee when the Dol rune in her ring took effect, and used this to good effect in taking down half of the minions. She found herself hitting Ventar himself and charged bolts sprayed out everywhere; she pulled back quickly and attacked another minion, leaving Ventar himself for last.  
  
While she was fighting him, the Keep shook. Baal laughed. She realized she'd led the Venom Lords far enough from him, for him to decide to spawn more troublemakers! She attacked Ventar with renewed ferocity and soon he was gone. Back to town again - healing, repairs, merc revival...  
  
This final set of Baal's friends were huge creatures she'd never seen the like of before. Lister the Tormentor and his Minions of Destruction were extra fast; he also possessed a spectral hit and was fire enchanted. SweetSpearGirl soon realized the fleeing hit of her Dol rune had no effect on these things and she set to work, furiously stabbing them as hard as she could. They knocked her and Euyfura and the Valk around, their attacks stunning and hitting hard...  
  
They were quickly vanquished, considering the ferocity of their attacks (Lister dropped a green Full Plate which SweetSpearGirl stowed away in her cube)! Baal laughed nonetheless before turning and strolling into a portal leading to the chamber of the Worldstone itself. For once Euyfura had survived the minion pack and the trio returned to town to prepare for what surely had to be the ultimate battle.  
  
The green full plate turned out to be Tancred's Spine - useless, but it did pad her nest egg some more.  
  
They returned to the throne room.  
  
"Ready?" SweetSpearGirl asked.  
  
"As I'll ever be," said Euyfura. "Let's do this."  
  
"I'm gonna get my ass kicked," the Valk said.  
  
"Well that's not unsual," Euyfura retorted.  
  
They stepped through the portal to face the Lord of Destruction.  
  
Baal summoned Festering Appendages to distract Euyfura and the Valk. They hit hard enough to take down the former pretty quickly, but SweetSpearGirl - although she had a portal standing - knew she couldn't break off now. Baal was chilling and Decrepifying her, and she knew her only hope was to keep hitting him with everything she had.  
  
Baal and the Valk expired at the same time. He dropped a golden Grim Shield (Lidless Wall), a green Chaos Armour (Trang-Oul's Scales), 23k gold and some other forgettable items. As she slung them into her cube, the Archangel Tyrael descended into the chamber, telling her how - as always - she'd arrived too late. Finally, her patience snapped.  
  
"Listen to me for a second, Tyrael. You and Cain and everyone else, you've sent me on all these quests, to fight all these bad guys - and EVERY FRICKIN TIME you tell me I'm there too late! I've had enough! I'm retiring and taking my Rogue with me. You are gonna have to find someone else to fight whatever battles you want fought next!"  
  
Tyrael simply opened a portal. "This will take you to safety."  
  
"Safety is back in Harrogath," SweetSpearGirl replied.  
  
"The portal will stay open for you until nightfall."  
  
SweetSpearGirl returned to town and revived Euyfura. The Barbarians decided it was time to party! Cain spoke to her.  
  
"I've always believed in you, no matter what Tyrael says."  
  
"Thank you Cain," SweetSpearGirl said. "But now, I need a rest. I'm hanging up my spear. At least, for now."  
  
THE END  
  
======= 


End file.
